A self-proclaimed neo-Nazi was found guilty of first-degree murder for killing a woman at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., last year.
A jury rejected James Alex Fields Jr.’s argument that he acted in self-defense when he drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters during a “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017.
Fields, 21, killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injured dozens of counterprotesters when he sped his car into a crowd marching through Charlottesville in response to a far-right rally that had been organized to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate leader Robert E. Lee.
Fields was also convicted on nine other charges, including aggravated malicious wounding and hit and run, according to the Associated Press.
During his trial, prosecutors showed jurors a meme Fields had shared on Instagram months before the rally that showed bodies being thrown in the air after a car rammed into a crowd of protesters.
Fields lawyer argued that he drove into the crowd because he feared for his life and was “scared to death” by the violent clashes between the white nationalists and counterprotesters.
The jury will decide his prison sentence Monday. The law stipulates that they can recommend up to life in prison.
