White nationalist convicted of murdering protester in Charlottesville, Virginia

[December 08, 2018]  By Gary Robertson

Charlottesville, Va. (Reuters) - A white nationalist who drove his car into a crowd protesting against a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year, killing one of the counterdemonstrators, was found guilty on Friday of first-degree murder and nine other counts.

The jury deliberated for about seven hours before convicting James Fields, 21, of all charges stemming from the deadly attack that occurred after police had declared an unlawful assembly and cleared a city park of white supremacists gathered for the "Unite the Right" rally.

Fields, who did not take the witness stand to defend himself, faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. The 12 members of the mostly white jury - seven women and five men - were to return to court on Monday for the start of the penalty phase of the trial.

Wearing a light-blue sweater and eyeglasses, Fields sat expressionless between his two attorneys as the verdict was pronounced, glancing briefly at spectators in the crowded courtroom.

Defense attorneys never disputed that Fields was behind the wheel of the Dodge Charger that sent bodies flying when it crashed into a crowd on Aug. 12, 2017, killing counterprotester Heather Heyer, 32 and injuring 19 others.

Instead, Fields' lawyers suggested during the two-week trial that he felt intimidated by a hostile crowd and acted to protect himself.

Defense attorney Denise Lunsford told jurors in closing arguments that her client had expressed remorse when arrested, saying to police, "I’m sorry I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I thought they were attacking me."

Prosecutors countered that Field was motivated by hatred and had come to the rally to harm others.

DAY OF TENSION

The car-ramming capped a day of tension and physical clashes between hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis who had assembled in Charlottesville to protest against the removal of statues commemorating two Confederate generals of the U.S. Civil War, and groups of opposing demonstrators.

The night before, the "Unite the Right" protesters had staged a torch-lit march through the nearby University of Virginia campus, chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans.

James Alex Fields Jr., attends the "Unite the Right" rally in Emancipation Park, before being arrested by police and charged with charged with one count of second degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of failing to stop at an accident that resulted in a death after police say he drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters later in the afternoon in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Eze Amos/File Photo

Republican U.S. President Donald Trump was strongly condemned by fellow Republicans as well as Democrats for saying afterward that "both sides" were to blame for the violence.

Fields, a resident of Maumee, Ohio, was photographed hours before the car attack carrying a shield with the emblem of a far-right hate group. He has identified himself as a neo-Nazi.

Fields also faces separate federal hate-crime charges, which carry a potential death sentence. He has pleaded not guilty in that case as well.

The mothers of both Fields and Heyer were present in the courtroom when the verdict was returned.

In addition to murder, Fields was convicted of five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and a hit-and-run offense.

Four other men from California described by prosecutors as members of a militant white supremacist group, Rise Above Movement, were arrested in October on federal charges of instigating violence during the Charlottesville rallies.

(Reporting by Gary Robertson in Charlottesville, Va.; Writing by Peter Szekely and Steve Gorman, additional writing by Rich McKay; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown)

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