Man Who Ran Over Charlottesville Protester Sentenced To Life Plus 419 Years
Charlottesville First aid workers help those hurt by a car deliberately plowing into a crowd demonstrating against white supremacists marching. Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — A jury in Charlottesville, Virginia, recommended a sentence of life in prison plus 419 years for the man who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a far-right rally, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
The jury in the Virginia district court made its recommendation for the sentencing of James Alex Fields Jr., 20, on Tuesday following four hours of deliberations over two days, including listening to statements from victims. It also recommended a fine of nearly half a million dollars.
On Friday, the same jury found Fields guilty of first-degree murder on its first day of deliberations following a trial of nearly two weeks.
Fields also was convicted on nine other counts, including hit and run, for injuring at least 20 others with his vehicle.
He also is charged with 30 federal hate crimes, which will involve a federal trial.
The rally on Aug, 12, 2017, was held under the banner of “Unite the Right.” It was organized originally to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
