James Alex Fields Jr. Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murder Of Heather Heyer

The neo-Nazi drove his car into a crowd during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year.
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Neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for killing Heather Heyer in a vehicular attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year.

A jury sentenced Fields to one life term for the murder, along with 419 years for another nine charges, according to NBC Washington. The jury also recommended he be fined nearly half a million dollars.

The 21-year-old extremist, who is associated with the hate group Vanguard America, was charged with first-degree murder and nine other felonies after he intentionally rammed his vehicle into anti-racist counterprotesters following the “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017, killing one and injuring dozens more. Fields was found guilty of all 10 charges on Friday, and faces 30 charges in a separate federal case concerning the same attack.

He reportedly showed no emotion during his sentencing.

On Monday, Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, said in emotional testimony that Fields tried to silence an activist by killing her daughter.

“Heather was full of love, justice and fairness,” Bro said, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “Mr. Fields tried to silence her... I refuse to let him.”

During the trial, prosecutors showed evidence that Fields referred to Heyer as “that one girl who died, or whatever” and that he said her death “doesn’t fucking matter,” according to BuzzFeed. Days before the deadly rally in Charlottesville, 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.”

A formal court date was scheduled for March 29, when a judge is expected to recognize the sentence.

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