White Supremacist Gets Life In Prison For Driving Car Into Crowd At Charlottesville Hate Rally

Alex Fields Jr. (mug shot)

NBC News reports that James Alex Fields Jr., who drove his car into a crowd protesting white supremacists at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, has been sentence to life in prison.

James Alex Fields Jr. pleaded guilty to 29 of 30 hate crime charges in March in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty for murdering civil rights activist Heather Heyer and injuring more than 30 others when he intentionally mowed them down on a side street with his car on Aug. 12, 2017.

The 30th charge, which included a possible death sentence, was dropped. U.S. Attorney General William Barr directed and permitted prosecutors not to seek the death penalty.

Prosecutors have said that Fields has shown no remorse for the violence and had a history of racist and anti-Semitic behavior.

James Alex Fields, driver in deadly car attack at Charlottesville rally, sentenced to life in prison
Fields pleaded guilty to 29 of 30 federal hate crime charges in March.
Image: James Alex Fields Jr.
James Alex Fields Jr. at the Unite the Right rally pic.twitter.com/gPadLikCeU

— Lynnette (@Lynnett72514891) June 28, 2019

According to reports, Fields admired Adolf Hitler keeping a photo of the German dictator next to his bed.

A former classmate of Fields testified during his trial that on a high school trip to a German concentration camp, Fields said aloud, "This is where the magic happened."

This isn't the end of legal troubles for Fields, though.

He has also been convicted on state charges, including first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and one hit and run count for injuring dozens of others with his vehicle.

He has a sentencing hearing set on July 15 regarding those charges.

The jury in that case has reportedly recommended life in prison plus 419 years.

White Supremacist Pleads Guilty To 29 Federal Hate Crimes

James A. Fields Jr. (mugshot)

James A. Fields Jr., who drove his car into a crowd of people killing Heather Heyer during a rally for white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, has pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges.

Fields originally pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea Wednesday. Those crimes carried the possibility of the death penalty.

From CBS19News:

James Fields, Jr. has pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges for his car attack on a crowd of people on Aug. 12, 2017 in Charlottesville.

The attack killed Heather Heyer and injured many other people. As a result of the plea, the death penalty was taken off the table.

The courtroom was filled with several people who had been injured in the car attack and Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer. Fields had to answer questions about his competence, and he said he was making the decision of his own free will. He did not express any remorse.

The plea deal had to be approved by U.S. Attorney General William Barr, and prosecutors obtained that approval.

Fields was convicted of first-degree murder and several counts of malicious wounding during his state trial in December. He already faces a life sentence plus 419 years for that conviction.

White Supremacist Sentenced To Life In Prison For Driving Car Through Charlottesville Crowd

James A Fields Jr.

The Washington Post reports that neo-nazi James A. Fields Jr., convicted of first-degree murder (among other charges) has been sentenced to life in prison and more for his actions.

James A. Fields Jr., an avowed neo-Nazi who rammed his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white-supremacist rally, was sentenced to life in prison by a jury Tuesday after a trial that offered an unsparing view of the physical and emotional ruin he caused in this city with a burst of vehicular rage 16 month ago.

As he had throughout his two-week trial, Fields, 21, sat impassively at the defendant’s table, clad in a powder blue sweater, as the jury delivered its verdict at 12:20 p.m. after about four hours of deliberations that began Monday: life for first-degree murder; 70 years for each of five counts of aggravated malicious wounding; 20 years for each of three counts of malicious wounding; and nine years for leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

His overall sentence: life plus 419 years and $480,000 in fines.

Heather Heyer, 32, was killed in the attack as well as 35 others who were seriously injured.

In Virginia, a trial jury hands out sentences within certain guidelines.

The judge will officially sentence Fields on March 29.  At that time, the judge may reduce, but not increase, the prison time.

Charlottesville Neo-Nazi Found Guilty Of Murder

James Alex Fields (mug shot via the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.)

The Neo-nazi who drove his car into a crowd of people a the Charlottesville rally in 2017 has been found guilty of first-degree murder.

From ABC News:

Suspect James Alex Fields was on trial for the death and injuries he is accused of causing when he drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer.

He was found guilty on all of the charges he was facing, ABC affiliate WSET reports, which included first-degree murder as well as eight other charges relating to injuries and one relating to fleeing the scene of an accident.

Fields' sentencing will come at a later date, and he faces life in prison.

BREAKING: James Alex Fields Jr., man who drove car into counter-protesters during Charlottesville rally in 2017, convicted of first-degree murder. https://t.co/HQNEBrxMMQ pic.twitter.com/KYNPYUPEYL

— ABC News (@ABC) December 7, 2018

Fields' defense lawyers tried to claim 'self-defense' saying he became afraid after the rally, led by white nationalists and neo-nazis turned violent.

Entered into evidence during the trial were text messages Fields sent to his mother leading up to and during the rally. "We're not the one [sic] who need to be careful," he texted his mother the day before the event, along with a picture of Adolf Hitler.

The jury also heard a jailhouse conversation between Fields and his mom. When his mother mentioned that Heyer's mother had lost a daughter due to his actions, he responded, "It doesn't f*cking matter."

The 21-year-old still faces 30 federal charges, separate from this trial, relating to hate crimes.

When The Inclusive Message Of "Y'all Means All" Is Deemed Too "Political"

Charlottesville's Pride event is just around the corner and the organizers want to make sure that the annual LGBT event is meant to include everyone.

So much so that this year's theme is "Y'all Means All."

But apparently that message of inclusion was deemed too "political" for one t-shirt company.

Charlottesville is about to celebrate pride, but the planning hit an unexpected problem proving exactly why we still need these events.

The usual vendor for Charlottesville Pride, Red Star, outsourced the organization's t-shirt order to Pennsylvania-based Legacy Athletics.

But Legacy Athletics declined to fulfill the order on the grounds that the Pride message was too "political."

Here's the response sent to Red Star:

I am sorry for the delay, this is a design that we would not be able to produce.

While Legacy does offer custom logos, we also carefully nurture and protect our brand. One of the ways we keep a positive connotation to the brand, is by avoiding doing any products with custom logos that might be deemed as controversial, political, offensive, etc. This does not in any way mean that we either support or do not support the organization making the request, but the reality is that in light of recent events in Charlottesville as well as the fact Gay Pride events are political activism; we respectfully decline this order. Again, I hope you can understand our position.

Now, companies can certainly decline an order from an organization like Charlottesville Pride because political groups are not protected classes.

But you have to admit "Y'all Means All" is a tough message to oppose.

Charlottesville Pride organizers used the episode as a teaching moment explaining this is exactly why we need Pride celebrations:

And to those of you who thought we were past this kind of discrimination, please know that while this explicit expression of homophobia is indeed shocking, it’s only the fact that what usually seethes beneath the surface has come up for air that’s new. We live with implicit and inferred bias and constant threat of legal recrimination everyday.

In this world of Trump, where open bias and supremacy against all kinds of marginalized communities has become applauded and encouraged, we, the LGBTQ community, need you – our allies, our would-be friends – to stand up for us, to stand up with us, to have our back.

If you're in the area, Charlottesville Pride is this Saturday, September 16, at the Sprint Pavilion, 700 E. Main St.

Miss Texas Trolls Trump At Miss America Pageant Over Charlottesville Racists

Miss Texas Morgana Wood

At last night's Miss America Pageant, Miss Texas Margana Wood didn't pause a second when answering a question from out People editor-in-chief Jess Cagle about President Trump's handling of the Charlottesville debacle.

Cagle queried, “Last month a demonstration of neo-Nazi white supremacists and the KKK in Charlottesville Virginia turned violent and a counter protester was killed. The president said there was shared blame with quote ‘very fine people on both sides’. Were there? Tell me yes or no and explain.”

Wood's answer was delivered deftly:

“I think that the white supremacist issue — it was very obvious that it was a terrorist attack. And I think that President Donald Trump should have made a statement earlier addressing the fact, and in making sure all Americans feel safe in this country and that is the number one issue right now.”

In the end, Miss North Dakota Cara Mund took home the crown.

Watch Miss Wood below.

.@MissAmericaTX is up next and she will be answering a question from @MrJessCagle. #MissAmerica pic.twitter.com/WbSBx3c5Ul

— Cara Mund (@MissAmerica) September 11, 2017

Tina Fey Advises Sheet-Caking To Cope With Neo-Nazi Rallies

On last night's summer edition of Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update," University of Virginia graduate shared her thoughts on the violent racist rally in Charlottesville. Along the way, she calls out Donald Trump, Ann Coulter and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

She also offered her own special technique for coping with neo-nazi get-togethers; a practice she calls "sheet-caking."

“I would urge people this Saturday, instead of participating in the screaming matches and potential violence, find a local business you support. Maybe a Jewish run bakery or African-American run bakery, and order a cake with the American flag on it, and just eat it. Sheet-caking is a grassroots movement, Colin. Most of the women I know have been doing it once a week since the election.”

Along the way she added:

“Part of me hopes these neo-Nazis do try it in New York City. I hope they do try and get their ham salad kicked out of them by a bunch of drag queens. Cause you know what a drag queen still is? A six foot four black man.”

“Who drove the car into the crowd, Hillary’s emails?”

We all can use some laughs these days, and Fey brings the big-time tasty humor.

Watch below and enjoy.

Charlottesville Nazi Strips His "White Power" Costume To Escape Protesters

Documentary-maker C.J. Hunt was in Charlottesville this past weekend to finish a doc on Confederate monuments.

Caught up in the violent turmoil of Saturday's neo-nazi events, he came across a young white supremacist who came running by him, clearly separated from his pack and afraid.

Via GQ Magazine:

It was Saturday, and the police had finally called for everyone to clear the park. As I filmed officers opening up a blocked street, a young man ran into view, screaming for help. He wore the khaki-and-white uniform of the white nationalist group Vanguard America. He had been separated from them and was being chased by at least one protester. He ripped off his shirt and begged the crowd for mercy. He wasn’t actually into white power, you see.

"Barely,” he clarified to me. As he shoved his polo shirt into a plastic bag, the fear on his face settled into a smirk. “It’s kind of a fun idea,” he explained. “Just being able to say ‘white power,’ you know?”

I didn’t know. But by the look of things, the fun of shouting “white power” stopped as soon as he was threatened with the same violence his group brought to bear on others. Cut off from the pack, forced to face the consequences of his inflammatory behavior, he found escape in a costume change.

Hunt goes on to note that the simple ability to shed his white supremacist skin demonstrates, in part, the white privilege the alt-right denies exists. People of color have no access to such immediate camouflage. The privilege to disappear by removing a shirt.

Watch below as the young neo-nazi explains before he walks off with a smirk.

Trump Defends White Supremacists: "Two Sides To A Story"

I'm. Just. Stunned.

From The New York Times:

President Trump on Tuesday insisted that he did nothing wrong on Saturday when he declined to specifically condemn Nazi and white supremacist groups, asserting that “before I make a statement, I like to know the facts.”

In a long, combative exchange with reporters at Trump Tower, the president repeatedly rejected a torrent of bipartisan criticism for waiting several days before naming the right-wing groups and placing blame on “many sides” for the violence that ended with the deaths of a young woman after a car crashed into a crowd.

Mr. Trump repeated that assertion on Tuesday, criticizing “alt-left” groups that he claimed were “very, very violent” when they sought to confront the nationalist and Nazi groups that had gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from a park. He said there is “blame on both sides.”

Trump says not everyone at Charlottesville was a neo-Nazi or white supremacist https://t.co/LE4bzWCOWj pic.twitter.com/iJPg3ssR8C

— Bloomberg (@business) August 15, 2017

President Trump on Charlottesville: “There are two sides to a story” https://t.co/UYpqI3w42L https://t.co/OQnTTHerZs

— CNN (@CNN) August 15, 2017

Donald Trump: "There were some very good people on both sides! Very good!" pic.twitter.com/ZhjzQiMNZB

— Riley Kilburg (@RileyKilburg) August 15, 2017

There are no "very good people" marching with Nazis. Trump is pivoting to something else. If you march with Nazis you're okay with Naziism.

— Nazis are Nazis (@therealezway) August 15, 2017

Merck CEO Quits President's Manufacturing Council Over Tepid Charlottesville Remarks

Citing a responsibility to "take a stand against intolerance and extremism,” Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier quit Donald Trump’s American Manufacturing Council on Monday in response to Trump's woefully tepid statements regarding the violent hate rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend.

"America's leaders must honor our fundamental views by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal. As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism."

Trump responded by attacking Frazier on Twitter: “Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President’s Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!”

Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017

As many have noted, it took less than an hour to slap back at Frazier, but no word against white supremacists in three days.

As this Twitter user points out, Frazier was welcomed as a member of Trump's Manufacturing Council. Did Trump think of Frazier as a ripoff artist all this time?

Rather than forcefully repudiate KKK & Nazis, @realDonaldTrump just admitted he KNOWINGLY had a Merck Pharma RIPOFF artist on his Council. https://t.co/eKU1tz5c9O

— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) August 14, 2017

No Bail For Nazi Suspect James Fields

James Alex Fields Jr.

James Alex Fields, the young man who allegedly drove his car through a crowd of counter-protesters during the hate rally on Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been arraigned without bail.

Via USA Today:

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, appeared in Charlottesville General District Court by video conference, where a judge read out the charges that include one count of second-degree murder, several counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run.

Clad in a striped gray and white shirt, Fields was subdued while answering questions from Judge Robert Downer. Fields said he could not afford a lawyer, and Downer assigned private attorney Charles Weber to the case.

Downer said he could not appoint a public defender due to a conflict of interest —someone linked to the public defender's office was injured in the crash Saturday. Fields’ next court date will be August 25.

Heather Heyer, 32, was killed and 19 people were injured Saturday when a Dodge Challenger rear-ended a sedan, which then hit a minivan that had slowed to allow the counter-protesters to cross at an intersection, Charlottesville police said. The impact pushed the vehicles into the crowd, police said in a statement. The Challenger fled the scene, but officers stopped it a short time later and arrested Fields, police said.

The article goes on to note that Fields apparently has a fascination with Nazism, idolized Adolf Hitler and radical convictions regarding race.

According to CBS News, Fields' mother knew he was going to an "alt-right" event but didn't understand it would be a white supremacist rally.

Redneck Liberal: Virginia Is For Lovers, Not Nazis

Trae Crowder, America's "Redneck Liberal"

From Trae Crowder, America's "Redneck Liberal:"

"I'm absolutely disgusted by this weekend in Charlottesville. But I maintain....love will prevail y'all."

“I don’t know that there’s any symbol that’s more inherently un-American than the Confederate flag. It’s sorta the point of the fucking thing."

"Ultimately, at their core, these people are losers. Losers who fetishize other losers."

Watch Trae rock this rant below:

Charlottesville Hate Rally Organizer Runs From His Own Press Conference

Jason Kessler runs from his own press conference

Jason Kessler, one of the white supremacists who helped organize the hideous events we saw in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend decided his "achievement" warranted a press conference.

The citizens of Charlottesville were not too keen on him "explaining" what happened in all the hate spewed Friday night and Saturday by his "Unite The Right" pals.

NBC News has footage of his literally running away from his own press conference as folks from Charlottesville told him exactly how they felt.

I don't condone violence - don't touch. But I support the citizens verbally expressing their outrage over what Kessler knowingly organized.

Watch the video below.

Unite the Right rally organizer Jason Kessler was chased away by protesters during a press conference in Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/5HOnoc0yal

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 13, 2017

Ivanka Trump Finds The Words Her Father Could Not

Ivanka Trump

Finding the words her father couldn't, Ivanka Trump condemned the white supremacist/neo-nazis hate on display in Charlottesville, Virginia, yesterday:

1:2 There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-nazis.

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 2017

2:2 We must all come together as Americans -- and be one country UNITED. #Charlottesville

— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) August 13, 2017

When history handed President Trump the chance to denounce the racist rhetoric yesterday at the Charlottesville rally, he chose to mute his statement saying there was hatred and violence "on many sides."

Trump on #Charlottesville: "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides" pic.twitter.com/qdvhcnCTpD

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 12, 2017

The nazis celebrated the president's words:

Hillary Clinton Strongly Denounces White Supremacists' Violence In Charlottesville

After the violent turmoil erupted at the nazi rally today in Charlottesville, Virginia, Hillary Clinton issued this statement via Twitter:

My heart is in Charlottesville today, and with everyone made to feel unsafe in their country. But the incitement of hatred that got us here is as real and condemnable as the white supremacists in our streets. Every minute we allow this to persist through tacit encouragement or inaction is a disgrace, & corrosive to our values. Now is the time for leaders to be strong in their words & deliberate in their actions. We will not step backward. If this is not who we are as Americans, let's prove it.

At least someone knows what clear leadership looks like.

My heart is in Charlottesville today, and with everyone made to feel unsafe in their country.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 12, 2017

But the incitement of hatred that got us here is as real and condemnable as the white supremacists in our streets.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 12, 2017

Every minute we allow this to persist through tacit encouragement or inaction is a disgrace, & corrosive to our values.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 12, 2017

Now is the time for leaders to be strong in their words & deliberate in their actions.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 12, 2017

We will not step backward. If this is not who we are as Americans, let's prove it.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 12, 2017