CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — An avowed white supremacist was sentenced to life in prison plus 419 years Monday for deliberately driving his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a rally in Virginia, killing one woman and injuring dozens.
James Alex Fields Jr., 22, remained stoic as Circuit Court Judge Richard Moore formally imposed the recommendation of a state jury that convicted him in December of murder and malicious wounding charges for his actions in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017.
Fields showed no visible emotion as victims of the car attack described severe physical and psychological injuries — broken bones, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression — inflicted by Fields when he plowed his car into them.
“Hello, scum,” said Jeanne “Star” Peterson, as she addressed Fields, seated about 20 feet from her at a table with his lawyers.
Peterson, who suffered a broken spine and a shattered right leg in the attack, told Fields he needs to stop “verbally abusing” his mother, referring to a recorded jail conversation in which Fields can be heard disparaging his mother.
Peterson said Fields’ mother “tried her best” and it’s not her fault her son “turned out to be a piece of feces.”