The man who made headlines last summer after driving his car through a crowd during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., killing one woman, pleaded not guilty to federal hate crime charges on Thursday.
James Fields, 21, was charged last week with 30 federal crimes related to the attack on the Aug. 12, 2017, Unite The Right rally, including first-degree murder, five counts of malicious wounding, and hit and run.
Prosecutors said they plan to seek life in prison, which is the maximum penalty for “Hate Crime Act Resulting in Death,” according to Washington’s Top News. Fields was also charged with “Bias-Motivated Interference with Federally Protected Activity Resulting in Death,” which can be punishable by death.
In addition to one fatality, Fields injured 19 others during his attack, which followed 48 hours of violent protests in Charlottesville over the removal of Confederate monuments. The violence lead to the summoning of the National Guard to clear the area and spurred Gov. Terry McAuliffe, to declare a state of emergency.
The case will go to trial in Charlottesville Circuit Court in November.
