Neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. was found guilty on 10 charges including first-degree murder Friday after plowing his car into protesters during the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year, killing Heather Heyer.
Fields ― a 21-year-old extremist associated with the hate group Vanguard America ― faced charges of first-degree murder and other felonies over the attack, in which he intentionally sped into protesters after the “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, killing one and injuring dozens more. He also faces 30 charges in a separate federal case over the same attack.
Jury deliberations began on Thursday night, after Charlottesville prosecutors’ closing arguments.
“That is the face of anger, of hatred. It’s the face of malice,” said Nina-Alice Antony, assistant commonwealth’s attorney, according to WTOP.
During the trial, prosecutors provided evidence that Fields showed little remorse for the murder in a call he made to his mother in December 2017. He referred to Heyer as “that one girl who died, or whatever” and said her death “doesn’t fucking matter,” according to BuzzFeed.
Days prior to the deadly rally, he sent a photo of Adolf Hitler to his mother along with the text, “We’re not the one [sic] who need to be careful.”
Videos from several angles and photos from the Charlottesville attack show Fields flying down Fourth Street in his car, plowing into protesters, then backing up and hitting more.
Fields’ defense asked the court to find him guilty of lesser charges of unlawful wounding and involuntary manslaughter, arguing that he was immature at the time of the attack and that he drove into protesters out of fear. Antony called the defense an excuse, noting that Fields could have backed away from protesters.
Fields was also found guilty of eight counts of malicious wounding of various degrees, and a count of failing to stop at the scene of an accident. His sentencing hearing begins Monday, according to BuzzFeed’s Blake Montgomery.