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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A man who drove his car to counterpart manufacturing at a white nationalist rally in Virginia in 2017 was convicted of first degree murder, a verdict that local civil rights advocates will help heal a community marked by violence and racial tensions that it has inflamed throughout the country
A state jury rejected the defense arguments that James Alex Fields Jr. acted in self-defense at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. He also sentenced Fields to eight other charges, including serious injury and assault,
Fields, 21, traveled to Virginia to Maumee, Ohio, Virginia, to support white nationalists. As a large group of counter-candidates were crossing Charlottesville singing and laughing, he stopped his car, backed off, and then spun in the crowd, according to the testimony and video surveillance shown to the jurors.
Prosecutors told the jury that Fields was angry. after witnessing violent clashes between the two parties earlier in the day. The violence prompted the police to interrupt the rally even before it officially begins.
Related: Scenes from the first anniversary of the fatal rally "Unite the Right"
52 PHOTOS [19659008] Scenes from the first anniversary of the fatal "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville [19659008] View Gallery
Students from the University of Virginia demonstrated against racism on the first anniversary of the White supremacist rally in Charlottesville. dozens of people were injured and Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist attack on the far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia Virginia Protested Against Racism on the Occasion of the First Anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Supremacist Right in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist bombing. Far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia protested racism on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Supremacist Right in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist attack of 39, far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia Virginia demonstrated against racism on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Right Supremacist in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist attack of Far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia Virginia Protested Against Racism on the Occasion of the First Anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Supremacist Right in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist bombing. Far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia Virginia Protested Against Racism on the Occasion of the First Anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Supremacist Right in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist bombing. Far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia Virginia demonstrated against racism on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Right Supremacist in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist attack of Far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia have demonstrated against racism on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Supremacist Right in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist attack of 39, far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Students from the University of Virginia protested racism on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Unite the Rally of the White Supremacist Right in Charlottesville, where dozens of people were injured and where Heather Heyer was killed in a terrorist attack of 39, far right. Demonstrations took place on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Activists wrote messages to leave in the pedestrian street as part of their memorial The murdered activist Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 11, 2018. (Photo by Cory Clark / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Protesters march past the first anniversary of the protest " United against the right "held in Charlottesville in 2017 in Charlottesville. Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
A protester standing in front of Virginia state police forming a cordon at the University of Virginia, just before the first birthday of "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville in 2017 Events, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson IMAGES OF THE DAY TPX
Virginia State Police Constables form a cord at the University of Virginia. Anniversary of Charlottesville 2017 "United against the Right" protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Virginia state police officers form a cordon at the 39, University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of his birthday. of the Charlottesville 2017 "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville, VA, USA on August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Virginia State Police Constables Form a Rope at the University of Virginia Charlottesville 2017 "Unite the Right" protests in Charlottesville, VA, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Police officers in riot gear unfold around the statue of Confederate General of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, in front of the anniversary of the first anniversary of Charlottesville's "Unite the Right" event in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, on the 11 August 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Virginia State Police form a cordon at the University of Virgin among others, on August 11, 2018, in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, just before the first anniversary of the manife "Unite the Right" station in Charlottesville 2017. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Protesters marching in front of the Lambeth Field at the University of Virginia commemorating the first anniversary of the Charlottesville 2017 "Unite the Right" protest. Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Virginia State Police form a cordon at the University of Virginia on August 11, 2018, in Charlottesville, Virginia ), in the United States, the first anniversary of the Charlottesville 2017 "Unite the Right" protest. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Protesters gather around the statue of the Confederate General of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee "Unite the Right" protests held in Charlottesville in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Protesters gather near the statue of George Confederate national bert E. Lee, before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right" protest organized in Charlottesville in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
in riot gear unfolds near the statue of Civil The Confederate General of the War, Robert E. Lee, before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right" event organized in Charlottesville in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia (United States United States), August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Police officers in riot gear unfurl around the Confederate General of the Civil War's statue, Robert E. Lee, before the first anniversary of the protest. 2017 against the union of the right in Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Police in riot gear Deploy near the statue of the Confederate General of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, before the first anniversary of Charlottesville's "United in the Right" protests, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Police in riot gear Deploy near the statue of Confederate General of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, before the first anniversary of Charlottesville's "United against the Right" protests in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the United States. United, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Police in riot gear deployed around the statue of Confederate General of the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the protests "Let's Unite Right" 2017 in Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder [19659036] Protesters stand in front of Virginia state police officers forming a cordon at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right" event held in Charlottesville on August 11, 2018 in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson THE TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Protesters gather at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the Charlottesville 2017 "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States , To Jul. 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson TPX DAYS OF THE DAY
Police officers in riot gear unfold around the statue of the Confederate General of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, just before the first Anniversary of 2017, in Charlottesville, protesting the "Unite the Law" movement, in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
Protesters marching at the University of Virginia , in anticipation of the first anniversary of the 2017 "Unite the Right" event in Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia. United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
A smuggler passes in front of a driver from the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right" event in Charlottesville in 2017, the August 11 in Charlottesville (United States), 2018. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Protesters gather at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right" event held in Charlottesville in 2017 , Charlottesville, Virginia (USA), August 11, 2018. REUTE RS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters gather at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right" protest »Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson [19659043] Demonstrator wearing anarchist flag at demonstration at the University of Virginia just before the first anniversary ersaire of the Charlottesville "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville, VA, USA, on August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder [19659044] Protesters marching at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right" event of Charlottesville 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters gather at Lambeth field of work at the University of Virginia, August 11, 2018, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the "United against the Right" protests in Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia (USA), on August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Brian Snyder
mbeth field at the University of Virginia, nearing the first anniversary of Charlottesville 2017's "Get Me Right" events in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson [19659043] Protesters gather at Lambeth Field at the University of Virginia on August 11, 2018, to mark the first anniversary of Charlottesville's "Unite the Right" event, held in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters gather at Lambeth Field at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the Charlottesville 2017 "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States , August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters gather at Lambeth Field, at the University of Virginia, to commemorate the first anniversary of the Charlottesville 2017 "Unite the Right" event in Charlottesville. Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters marching at the University of Virginia, in anticipation of the first anniversary of Unite the Rig protests ht Charlottesville 2017, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Protesters marry at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the "Unite the Right 'Charlottesville 2017, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Protesters march to the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the feast of 2017 in Charlottesville "Unite The Right" protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Protesters form a line at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of the 2017 "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters marching at the University of Virginia, ahead of the first anniversary of the 2017 "Unite the Right" protest in Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Virginia police officers form a cordon at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of Charlottesville's "Unite the Right" event in 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters stand in front of Virginia State Police officers forming a cordon at the University of Virginia, just before the first anniversary of "Unite the Right" in Charlottesville in 2017 Events, in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
Protesters stand in front of Virginia State police officers forming a cordon at the University of Virginia, just before the first birthday of the feast of Char Lottesville in 2017 "" Unite the Right ", in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 11, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
A counter-protester holds a sign near a rally led by a white nationalist anniversary of Charlottesville 2017? Unite the right? protests in Washington, DC August 12, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Urquhart
Antifa, opponents of the white nationalist group Jason Kessler, parade at a rally marking the first anniversary of the Charlottesville party in 2017. Be together? Protests in Washington, United States, August 12, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Bourg
Protesters marching with white nationalist group Jason Kessler are escorted by police at a rally marking the first anniversary of the feast of Charlottesville in 2017. Do we join the right? Protests in Washington, USA, August 12, 2018. REUTERS / Jim Bourg
Counter-protesters march past white nationalists escorted by police to a rally marking the first anniversary of the "United Against the right "held in Charlottesville in 2017, in Washington, DC, August 12, 2018. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
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Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old civil rights and paralegal activist, was killed and nearly three dozen others were injured. The trial included emotional testimony from survivors who described devastating injuries and long, complicated recoveries.
After reading the verdict in court, some of the injured kissed Heyer's mother, Susan Bro. She left the courthouse without comment. Fields' mother, Samantha Bloom, disabled, left the courthouse in wheelchair without comment
A group of about a dozen local civil rights activists held in front of the palace justice after the verdict, arms raised.
"They will not replace us, they will not replace us!" they shouted, in response to the songs heard at the 2017 rally, when white nationalists shouted, "You will not replace us!" and "the Jews will not replace us."
Charlottesville Councilman Wes Bellamy , said he hoped the verdict would be made. "This allows our community to take a step closer to healing and to go forward."
The activist of Charlottesville Civil Rights, Tanesha Hudson, said she considered the verdict of guilt as a way of saying to the city: "We will not tolerate that in our city."] "We do not represent this type of hatred . We simply do not, "she said.
White nationalist Richard Spencer, who was scheduled to speak at the Unite the Right rally, described the verdict as" denial of justice. "[19659002] Related: Memorial of Heather Heyer, Victim of Charlottesville Rally
12 PHOTOS
Memorial of Heather Heyer, Victim of the Charlottesville Rally
View Gallery [19659072] The victim, Heather Heyer, mother, assembles a photo of her daughter after speaking at her memorial service inside the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – AUGUST 16: People kiss at the place where Heather Heyer was killed and 19 others injured A car struck a crowd protesting a rally of supremacy white in Charlottesvi Island, Virginia, August 16, 2017. Charlottesville will hold a commemorative ceremony in Heyer's honor Wednesday, four days after his assassination In a neo-Nazi white nationalist rally, his car would have been taken away in the crowd protesting against the gathering of the "right right". (Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
The victim, Susan Bro, mother of Heather Heyer, is kissed by Heyer's colleague / supervisor, Alfred Wilson, at his memorial service inside the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
People in mourning attend a commemorative ceremony in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 16, 2017 in the Paramount Theater for the Victim of the attack on a car, Diana Ratniff
She cried at a commemorative ceremony for Heyer in the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst [19659077] Susan Bro, mother of car assault victim, is kissed by colleague / supervisor Heyer, Alfred Wilson at his memorial service inside Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, state United States, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
The mother of Heather Heyer, victim of the attack on the car, San Bro passes in front of the photo of his daughter after his commemorative speech at the Inside the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
Heather Heyer's father, a victim of motor vehicle assault, presents himself for his memorial service at the Inside the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
People line up to attend the commemorative ceremony in honor of Heather Heyer, who has was killed at a rally on the far right in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Joshua Roberts
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe is waiting to make a statement after the ceremony in memory of Heather Heyer, who was killed when an alleged white nationalist crashed his car against anti-racist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Joshua Roberts
The mother of Heather Heyer, victim of an accident. a motor vehicle assault, receives a standing ovation during his speech at a commemorative ceremony r girl at Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
Susan's mother Bro, the victim of an automobile assault, speaks for a commemorative ceremony in honor of his daughter at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville (Virginia, USA) August 16, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst [19659084] HIDE CAPTION
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"Unfortunately, I am not shocked, but I am appalled by that," he told The Associated Press. "He was treated from the start as a terrorist."
Spencer had asked if Fields could benefit from a fair trial because the case was "so moved".
"There does not seem to be any reasonable proof put Mr. Spencer popularized the term" all-right "to describe a marginal movement vaguely mixing white nationalism, anti-Semitism and other extremist views He stated that he did not feel personally responsible for the violence in Charlottesville.
"Absolutely not," he said. "As a citizen, I have the right to protest. I have the right to speak. That's what I came to do in Charlottesville. "
The far right rally of August 2017 had been organized in part to protest the kidnapping project of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee: Hundreds of members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other white nationalists – emboldened by the election of President Donald Trump – flocked to the university town to attend One of the largest gatherings of white supremacists of the decade, some dressed in battle dress.
After that, Trump still ignited tensions when he declared that "both sides" were to blame, a comment that some people saw at the refusal to condemn racism.
According to one of his former teachers, Fields was known in high school to be fascinated by Nazism and idolize Adolf Hitler. saw an SMS sent to his mother a few days before the rally, including an image of the famous German dictator. When his mother asked him to be careful, he replied, "It is not we who need to pay attention."
During one of the two recorded phone calls, the fields passed to his mother in prison in the months after his arrest, he told him that he had been mobilized "by a group of terrorists violent "at the rally. In another case, Fields called the murdered woman's mother a "communist" and "one of those anti-white supremacists."
Prosecutors also showed jurors the same Field posted on Instagram three months before the rally in which bodies are shown being thrown in the air after a car has struck a crowd of people identified as protesters. He posted the message in public on his Instagram page and sent a similar image as a private message to a friend in May 2017.
But Fields' lawyers told the jury that he was returned in the crowd on the day of the rally, fearing for his life and was "frightened to death" by the previous violence he had witnessed. A video of Fields interviewed after the accident showed him sobbing and hyperventilating after learning that a woman had died and that other people had been seriously injured.
Wednesday, Bowie, hit by the Fields car, broke the pelvis and other injuries,
"This is the best I've been doing for a year and a half", said Bowie.
The jury will meet again on Monday to recommend a sentence. Under the law of Virginia, jurors can recommend a sentence ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment for a charge of first degree murder.
Fields is punishable by death if he is convicted of a separate federal hate crime charge. No lawsuit has been scheduled yet.
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