Charlottesville, Va. • A judge here concluded Thursday that there is enough evidence to pursue a first-degree murder charge against the self-professed neo-Nazi accused of plowing his car into a crowd in August, killing one woman.
James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been jailed in Charlottesville since his arrest during a rally of white supremacists on Aug. 12. Authorities say he rammed his car into another vehicle on purpose on a crowded street, killing counterprotester Heather Heyer 32, and injuring 35 other people.
The incident — captured on video and seen worldwide — occurred amid clashes involving hundreds of white supremacists and counterprotesters at a gathering billed by organizers as a "Unite the Right" rally, in the home town of the University of Virginia.