Просмотр кода страницы Английская Википедия:Charlottesville car attack

{{Английская Википедия/Панель перехода}}
{{short description|2017 terrorist attack in the United States}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}{{Coord|38|01|46.17|N|78|28|46.29|W|display=title}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title            = Charlottesville car attack
| partof           = 
| image            = <!-- see [[Kent State shootings]] for a similar article where a Pulitzer Prize-winning non-free photograph appears in the infobox --> 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia car attack photograph.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| image_upright    = 
| alt              = Photograph of the 2017 Charlottesville vehicle-ramming attack
| caption          = [[Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography|Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph]] of the attack taken by [[Ryan Kelly (photojournalist)|Ryan Kelly]] for ''[[The Daily Progress]]''
| map_size         = 
| map_alt          = 
| map_caption      = 
| location         = Southern half of the [[Downtown Mall]], [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]
| target           = Crowd counter-protesting [[Unite the Right rally]]<ref name="Bromwich & Blinder">{{cite news |work=The New York Times |date=August 13, 2017 |first1=Jonah |last1=Bromwich |first2=Alan |last2=Blinder |title=What We Know About James Alex Fields Jr., Driver Charged in Charlottesville Killing|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/james-alex-fields-charlottesville-driver-.html|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813205813/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/james-alex-fields-charlottesville-driver-.html |archive-date=August 13, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
| coordinates      = 
| date             = {{Start date and age|2017|8|12}}
| time             = {{circa}} 1:45&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="Astor">{{cite web |first=Maggie |last=Astor |title=A Guide to the Charlottesville Aftermath |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/charlottesville-virginia-overview.html |date=August 13, 2017 |website=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814223430/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/charlottesville-virginia-overview.html |archive-date=August 14, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
| timezone         = UTC-4
| type             = [[Vehicle-ramming attack]], [[Domestic terrorism in the United States|domestic terrorism]], [[murder]], [[Attempted murder|attempted mass murder]]
| fatalities       = 1 (Heather Danielle Heyer){{r|Mickolus}}
| injuries         = 35{{r|Mickolus}}
| victims          = 
| perp             = James Alex Fields, Jr.{{r|Mickolus}}
| weapons          = 2010 [[Dodge Challenger]]<ref name="Heim Aug 2017">{{cite news|last1=Heim|first1=Joe|last2=Silverman|first2=Ellie|last3=Shapiro|first3=T. Rees|last4=Brown|first4=Emma|title=One dead as car strikes crowds amid protests of white nationalist gathering in Charlottesville; two police die in helicopter crash|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/fights-in-advance-of-saturday-protest-in-charlottesville/2017/08/12/155fb636-7f13-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=May 24, 2018|date=August 13, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref>
| dfens            = <!-- or | dfen = -->
| motive           = {{plainlist|
*[[Neo-Nazism]]<ref name="Ruiz">{{cite news |last=Ruiz |first=Joe |date=13 August 2017 |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/08/13/543176250/charlottesville-attack-james-alex-fields-jr |title=Ohio Man Charged With Murder In Fatal Car Attack On Anti-White Nationalist March |department=The Two-Way |publisher=[[NPR]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817000743/http://www.npr.org/2017/08/13/543176250/charlottesville-attack-james-alex-fields-jr |archive-date=August 17, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Blinder">{{cite web |last1=Blinder |first1=Alan |title=Suspect in Charlottesville Attack Had Displayed Troubling Behavior |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/suspect-in-charlottesville-attack-had-displayed-troubling-behavior.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=May 24, 2018 |date=August 13, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Pilcher" />
*[[White supremacy]]<ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Pilcher" />
*[[Fascism]]<ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past" /><ref name="Toy" />}}
| inquiry          = 
| coroner          = 
| accused          = 
| convicted        = 
| verdict          = '''Federal verdict:'''<br>[[Plea]]ded guilty<br>'''State verdict:'''<br>[[Guilt (law)|Guilty on all counts]]
| convictions      = '''Federal convictions:'''
*[[Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act|Hate crime act resulting in death]]
*Hate crime act that caused bodily injury involving an [[Attempted murder|attempt to kill]] (x28)
'''State convictions:'''
*[[Murder (United States law)|First-degree murder]]
*[[Battery (crime)|Malicious wounding]] (x8)
*[[Aggravation (law)|Aggravated]] malicious wounding (x5)
* [[Assault#Aggravated assault|Felonious assault]] (2 counts)<ref name="Berg May 2018">{{cite web |last1=Berg |first1=Lauren |title=Charge against Fields upgraded to first-degree murder|url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/charge-against-fields-upgraded-to-first-degree-murder/article_77e7fd58-e143-11e7-a17a-bfefa8572139.html |website=The Daily Progress |location=Charlottesville, Va. |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106211450/http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/charge-against-fields-upgraded-to-first-degree-murder/article_77e7fd58-e143-11e7-a17a-bfefa8572139.html |archive-date=January 6, 2018 |url-status=live |date=December 14, 2017}}</ref>
*[[Crime scene getaway|Leaving the scene of an accident]]
| charges = [[Hate crime laws in the United States#Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1968|Racially motivated violent interference with a federally protected activity]] (dropped after [[plea deal]])<ref name="DOJ Public Affairs" />
| litigation = Fields ordered to pay $12 million
{{Infobox event
| title = <br>
| child = yes
| sentence = '''Federal sentence:'''<br>[[Life imprisonment]] without the possibility of [[parole]]<br>'''State sentence:'''<br>Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole plus 419 years
}}
}}

The '''Charlottesville car attack''' was a [[white supremacist]] [[terrorist attack]]<ref name="Myre">{{Cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/08/14/543462676/why-the-govt-cant-bring-terrorism-charges-in-charlottesville|title=Why The Government Can't Bring Terrorism Charges In Charlottesville|last=Myre |first=Greg|date=August 14, 2017 |work=[[NPR]]|access-date=October 14, 2020 |quote=When Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked how he viewed the car attack in Charlottesville, Va., here's how he responded: "It does meet the definition of domestic terrorism in our statute," he told ABC's Good Morning America.}}</ref> perpetrated on August 12, 2017, when James Alex Fields Jr. deliberately [[Vehicle-ramming attack|drove his car into a crowd]] of people peacefully protesting the [[Unite the Right rally]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], killing one person and injuring 35.<ref name="Mickolus">{{cite book |last=Mickolus |first=Edward |title=Terrorism Worldwide, 2018 |date=2019 |publisher=McFarland |location=Jefferson, N.C. |isbn=978-1-4766-3747-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ICJDwAAQBAJ |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3ICJDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 170]}}</ref><ref name="Duggan">{{cite news|last1=Duggan|first1=Paul|title=Charge upgraded to first-degree murder for driver accused of ramming Charlottesville crowd|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/driver-accused-of-plowing-into-charlottesville-crowd-killing-heather-heyer-due-in-court/2017/12/13/6cbb4ce8-e029-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 24, 2018|date=December 14, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref> Fields, 20, had previously espoused [[neo-Nazi]] and white supremacist beliefs,<ref name="Pilcher" /> and drove from Ohio to attend the rally.<ref name="Romo">{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/12/07/674672922/james-alex-fields-unite-the-right-protester-who-killed-heather-heyer-found-guilt|title=Charlottesville Jury Convicts 'Unite The Right' Protester Who Killed Woman|last=Romo|first=Vanessa|date=December 7, 2018|work=NPR|access-date=December 8, 2018}}</ref> 

Fields' attack was called an act of [[domestic terrorism]] by the [[mayor of Charlottesville]], Virginia's [[Virginia Secretary of Public Safety|public safety secretary]], the [[United States Attorney General|U.S. attorney general]], and the [[FBI director|director of the FBI]].

Fields was convicted in a state court of the [[first-degree murder]] of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, eight counts of [[malicious wounding]], and [[hit and run]].{{r|Duggan & Jouvenal |q=Late last year, Fields was convicted in state court of first-degree murder and other charges for killing Heather D. Heyer, 32, and injuring dozens at the chaotic Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017.}} He also pled guilty to 29 of 30 federal [[hate crime]] charges to avoid the [[Capital punishment by the United States federal government|death penalty]]. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 419 years for the state charges, with an additional life sentence for the federal charges.

== Background and attack ==
{{See also|Unite the Right rally}}

[[File:Charlottesville 'Unite the Right' Rally (35780274914) crop.jpg|thumb|left|Rally participants prepare to enter [[Emancipation Park (Charlottesville, Virginia)|Emancipation Park]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], on August 12, 2017. They carry [[Confederate battle flag]]s, [[Gadsden flag]]s, and a [[Nazi flag]].]]{{OSM Location map
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| label2 = Lee statue
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The [[Unite the Right rally]] was a [[white supremacist]] rally that occurred in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]]  from August 11 to 12, 2017.<ref name="Fausset">{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/far-right-groups-blaze-into-national-view-in-charlottesville.html |date=August 13, 2017 |title=Far-Right Groups Surge Into National View In Charlottesville |first1=Richard |last1=Fausset |first2=Alan |last2=Feuer |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816015808/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/far-right-groups-blaze-into-national-view-in-charlottesville.html |archive-date=August 16, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="One Killed">{{cite news|title=Charlottesville: One killed in violence over US far-right rally |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40912509 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=May 24, 2018 |date=August 13, 2017}}</ref> [[Jason Kessler]], the organizer of the rally, had been protesting for months against the [[Robert Edward Lee (sculpture)#Protests against its removal|proposed removal of a statue]] of Confederate General [[Robert E. Lee]] in [[Emancipation Park (Charlottesville, Virginia)|Emancipation Park]] in Charlottesville.<ref name="Fausset"/>

The August rally had been preceded by a [[Ku Klux Klan]] rally in Charlottesville on July 8, 2017.<ref name="Stockman Aug 2017"/> That motivated many concerned local residents to ally with activist protesters against the white supremacists' rally the next month.<ref name="Stockman Aug 2017"/>

Individuals and groups of different beliefs and tactics participated in a demonstration against the rally. Many counter-protesters turned out despite the potential threat of violence. Protesters and some militant counter-protesters attacked each other.<ref name="Stockman Aug 2017">{{cite news |last1=Stockman |first1=Farah |title=Who Were the Counterprotesters in Charlottesville? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/us/who-were-the-counterprotesters-in-charlottesville.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=May 24, 2018 |date=August 14, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref> According to a police report, on August 12, 2017, "A school resource officer stationed at the intersection of 4th Street NE and Market Street was reassigned," after she radioed for assistance following {{" '}}violent skirmishes' breaking out causing her to feel unsafe." However, she wasn't replaced leaving the intersection without a police presence.

According to the report, "unknown persons" displaced a [[sawhorse]] barricade set up to block traffic from moving down 4th Street South-East, away from the Downtown Mall toward East Water Street.<ref name="Bustle">{{cite web |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/14-mistakes-charlottesville-police-made-during-the-white-nationalist-rally-according-to-a-new-report-6764301 |title=14 Outrageous Mistakes Police Made At The Charlottesville Rally, A Major New Report Says |work=[[Bustle.com]] |first=Morgan |last=Brinlee |date=December 2, 2017 |access-date=October 27, 2020 }}</ref> They were impeded by a large group of counter-protesters who walked up Fourth Street Southeast towards Market Street.<ref name="Bustle"/><ref name="Berg May 2018"/><ref name="Duggan"/><ref name="Barrouquere 12-19-18">{{cite news |last1=Barrouquere |first1=Brett |title=Violence at 'Unite the Right' led to a life lost and others forever changed |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/12/19/violence-unite-right-led-life-lost-and-others-forever-changed |access-date=February 23, 2020 |work=Hatewatch |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|date=December 19, 2018 }}</ref> A [[Honda Odyssey]] and a [[Toyota Camry]] behind it were driving down the Fourth Street Southeast crossing. A 2010 [[Dodge Challenger]] drove down Fourth Street Southeast mall crossing and idled for a short time behind the Toyota at the Downtown Mall.<ref name="Ruiz"/><ref name="Berg May 2018"/><ref name="Duggan"/> It then backed up and traveled more than a block before rapidly accelerating forward.<ref name="Duggan"/>
{{clear left}}

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:2017 Charlottesville, Virginia car attack seen from pole.jpg|thumb|left|Photograph of the attack taken by Jeremiah Knupp for ''[[The News Leader]]'']] -->[[File:2017 Charlottesville vehicle-ramming attack.webm|thumb|thumbtime=3|left|Video footage of the attack taken by [[Brennan Gilmore]]]]

At around 1:45&nbsp;p.m. on August 12, 2017, the Dodge Challenger, driven by Fields, drove at high speed into a crowd of counter-protesters .<ref name="Astor" /><ref name="Heim Aug 2017" /><ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Berg May 2018" /><ref name="Shulleeta">{{cite news|last1=Shulleeta|first1=Brandon|title=At least one dead as white nationalists ignite Virginia clashes|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-virginia-protests-idUSKBN1AS05T|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=May 24, 2018|date=August 12, 2018}}</ref> A police [[Traffic collision reconstruction|crash reconstructionist]] estimated the speed at {{convert|23|–|28|mph}}.<ref name="Suarez">{{cite news |last=Suarez |first=Chris |url=https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/two-people-who-were-with-fields-moments-before-fatal-crash/article_773d864d-2ff2-5d8a-a0e2-dc4529496deb.html |title=Two people who were with Fields moments before fatal crash testify in court; defense plans to wrap up case Thursday  |date=December 5, 2018 |work=[[Richmond Times-Dispatch]] |location=Richmond, Virginia |access-date=July 10, 2020 |quote=Clifford Thomas, a senior trooper and Virginia crash reconstructionist, testified Wednesday that Fields's vehicle reached a top speed of 28 mph before he hit a silver Toyota Camry that was in the middle of the crowd. He said he was not able to determine what speed the car was going when it struck the crowd, but it appeared to be traveling at 23 mph upon impact with the Camry. |url-access=limited}}</ref> The car audibly rammed pedestrians and struck a white sedan stopped in the street,<ref name="Shapiro Jul 2018"/><ref name="Ruiz" /> accelerating the sedan to {{convert|17.1|mph}}.<ref name="Stuart & Hawn">{{cite news |last1=Stuart |first1=Courteney |last2=Hawn |first2=Tyler |title=Final defense witness located after brief confusion in Fields trial |url=https://www.whsv.com/content/news/State-trooper-testifies-in-Fields-trial-about-reconstructing-car-attack-scene-502014661.html |work=WHSV |date=December 5, 2018 |location=Harrisonburg, Virginia |quote=[Virginia State Police Senior Trooper Clifford Thomas] testified data from Washington's car showed the impact of the crash caused it to be pushed from zero miles per hour to 17.1 miles per hour in 150 milliseconds.}}</ref> The impact reportedly sent people "flying through the air" over another car near the intersection of Fourth and Water streets.<ref name="Ruiz"/> The struck vehicle also hit the maroon minivan ahead, "sending that vehicle into more pedestrians".<ref name="Ruiz"/> Seconds after the initial impact, Fields drove in reverse, striking more people, with his car's front bumper scraping the road.<ref name="Ruiz"/><ref name="Berg May 2018"/> Pedestrians who had avoided the attack chased Fields along Fourth Street.<ref name="Ruiz"/>

Fields backed up at a high speed for several blocks, and then turned left and sped off down Market Street.<ref name="Berg May 2018"/><ref name="Balmert"/> A [[Virginia State Police]] [[Bell 407]] helicopter, which [[Unite the Right rally#Fatal helicopter crash|crashed about three hours later]], followed the car and relayed its route to ground units.<ref name="Berg May 2018"/><ref name="Duggan"/> A deputy stopped and arrested Fields on Monticello Avenue, about {{convert|1|mi}} from the attack.<ref name="Berg May 2018"/><ref name="increases"/> The deputy waited for backup to arrive, and detective Steven Young came from the police department. According to Young, Fields kept apologizing and asked if anyone was injured. When Young told him that a person had died, Fields appeared shocked and started to cry.<ref name="Berg May 2018"/><ref name="Duggan"/><ref name="Stockman Nov 2018">{{cite web |last1=Stockman |first1=Farah |title=The Charlottesville Murder Trial Is Beginning. Here's What to Know. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/us/charlottesville-murder-trial-james-fields.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=November 29, 2018 |date=November 29, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref> Young said that the Dodge had holes in the rear window<ref name="increases" /><ref name="Hartung">{{cite web |last1=Hartung |first1=Kaylee |last2=Simon |first2=Darran |title=Suspect in Charlottesville car attack faces first-degree murder charge |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/14/us/charlottesville-james-alex-fields-court-appearance/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=July 30, 2018 |date=December 15, 2017}}</ref> and heavy front-end damage; Young said that the car was "splattered" with blood and flesh. A pair of blue sunglasses was stuck in the spoiler on the car's trunk.<ref name="Berg May 2018"/>

=== Immediate aftermath ===
Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman, was fatally injured in the attack, and died at the [[University of Virginia Medical Center]].<ref name="Balmert"/><ref name="Caron"/><ref>Nora Neus / politico.com: [https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/12/24-hours-in-charlottesville-00051241 ''Counter-Protesters Remember the Death of Heather Heyer''] (politico.com 12 August 2022)</ref>
Initially, 19 injuries were reported, as 20 patients were taken at the [[University of Virginia Medical Center]].<ref name="Duggan"/><ref name="Balmert"/> In the evening, five people were in critical condition and 14 others were being treated for lesser injuries.<ref name="Shapiro Jul 2018"/> Nine people had been discharged and ten remained hospitalized in good condition the next day.<ref name="Bacon">{{cite news |last1=Bacon |first1=John |last2=King |first2=Robert |last3=Toy |first3=Sarah |title=Vigil for Charlottesville victim canceled, but mourners meet at crash site |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/08/13/charlottesville-mayor-rips-unite-right-leader-blames-city-violence/562914001/ |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |access-date=July 11, 2018 |date=August 14, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Silverman & Laris" /> Testimony at the preliminary hearing in December 2017 revealed that a total of 35 people were injured.<ref name="Duggan"/>

The organizer of the Unite the Right rally, Jason Kessler, held a news conference near the Charlottesville City Hall the day after the car attack. A crowd of around 100 counter-protesters shouted him down, screaming "murderer."<ref name="Shapiro Jul 2018"/> In February 2018, three were found guilty of assaulting Kessler at the news conference and a case against a person charged with spitting on Kessler was continued until February 2019 at the request of the prosecution.<ref name="Berg Feb 2018">{{cite web |last1=Berg |first1=Lauren |title=Three found guilty of assaulting Kessler at Aug. 13 press conference |url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/three-found-guilty-of-assaulting-kessler-at-aug-press-conference/article_040c36a6-0880-11e8-9d26-af6005eca6ba.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Progress]] |location=Charlottesville, Virginia|url-access=subscription |access-date=August 1, 2018 |date=February 2, 2018}}</ref>

== Perpetrator ==

James Alex Fields Jr. (born April 26, 1997)<ref name="Balmert"/> drove the car.

Fields's father had been killed in a car crash on December 5, 1996, five months before he was born.<ref name="Blinder"/><ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past" /> Fields was born in [[Kenton, Kentucky|Kenton]], Kentucky,{{r|Bromwich & Blinder}} and grew up with his mother, Samantha Bloom, a [[Paraplegia|paraplegic]], in [[Florence, Kentucky|Florence]], Kentucky.<ref name="Ruiz"/><ref name="Shapiro Jul 2018"/><ref name="Hernández">{{cite news|last1=Hernández|first1=Arelis R.|last2=Gillum|first2=Jack|last3=Miller|first3=Michael E.|last4=Hendrix|first4=Steve|title='Very threatening': Mother of Charlottesville suspect James A. Fields called 911 twice|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/judge-denies-bail-for-man-accused-of-ramming-car-into-charlottesville-protesters/2017/08/14/2177a028-80fd-11e7-ab27-1a21a8e006ab_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 26, 2018|date=August 14, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref> Bloom's parents died in a murder-suicide when she was 16 on August 21, 1984, when Bloom's father, 42-year-old self-employed contractor Marvin, killed his 37-year-old ex-wife Judy and himself.<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/><ref name="Shapiro Jul 2018"/> After living in southwest Florence for ten years, Bloom and Fields moved to [[Monclova Township, Lucas County, Ohio|Monclova Township, Lucas County]], Ohio, for her job in late 2016.<ref name="Ruiz"/><ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/><ref name="Hernández"/><ref name="Pilcher & Graves"/><ref name="Sparling">{{cite web|last1=Sparling|first1=Hannah|last2=Balmert|first2=Jessie|last3=Stinchcomb|first3=Jon|title=Community: Accused Charlottesville driver James Alex Fields Jr. doesn't represent us|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2017/08/13/maumee-neighbors-shaken-charlottesville-suspect-james-alex-fields-living-nearby/563055001/|website=The Cincinnati Enquirer|access-date=May 27, 2018|date=August 14, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref>

According to Fields's high-school history teacher, Derek Weimer, Fields was diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]] and prescribed an [[antipsychotic]] medication for [[Anger management#Medication|anger management]].<ref name="Hernández" /><ref name="Pilcher"/> Fields later told a judge that he was receiving treatment for [[bipolar disorder]], anxiety, depression, and [[attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]] (ADHD).<ref name="Fields Trial to Begin" />

Until his arrest in Charlottesville, Fields worked for about two years as a security guard in Ohio; he earned {{USD|10.50}} per hour and his income was $650 every two weeks.<ref name="Heim Jun 2018"/><ref name="Hernández"/> Fields's mother told the ''[[The Blade (Toledo, Ohio)|Toledo Blade]]'' that he had "recently moved out on his own."<ref name="Sparling"/> According to acquaintances, Fields "filled his time" playing video games and working at a local grocery store.<ref name="Blinder"/>

=== Biography ===
Fields threatened his mother with violence on multiple occasions. In November 2010, she locked herself in a bathroom, afraid of her son. She told the police that he took her phone, struck her head, put his hands over her mouth, and threatened to beat her after she told him to stop playing video games.<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past">{{cite web |last1=Strickley |first1=Bob |last2=Brookbank |first2=Sarah |last3=Graves |first3=Chris |last4=Mayhew |first4=Chris |title=911 calls, records reveal tumultuous past for accused Charlottesville driver, family |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/northern-ky/2017/08/14/mom-previously-accused-charlottesville-driver-james-alex-fields-jr-beating-her/566078001/ |website=The Cincinnati Enquirer |access-date=May 27, 2018 |date=August 14, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Hernández"/>

In February 2011, Fields's mother reported to the police at 5:20&nbsp;a.m. that he had not come home; she said that he was wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Two hours later, she reported to the police that Fields "was home and acting [[Lethargy|lethargic]];" he threatened to run away "if police came to the condo."<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/> In October 2011, Fields threatened her with a {{convert|12|inch|cm|adj=on}} knife; she called the police the next day to say that her son had been "very threatening" toward her and that she was scared and did not feel in control of the situation because she was in a wheelchair. In November 2011, Fields spat in his mother's face and threatened her, and a woman requested that the police help Fields's mother get him to a hospital for assessment; the log for the call reads, "Mom is scared he is going to become violent here."<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/><ref name="Hernández"/> Fields was subsequently arrested and held in juvenile detention.<ref name="Hernández"/>

When he was a [[Twelfth grade|senior]] in high school, Fields applied to join the U.S. Army. Weimer, his history teacher and a former [[Ohio National Guard]] officer, helped him because Weimer believed that the military "would expose Fields to people of different races and backgrounds and help him dispel his white supremacist views." Fields was eventually rejected, which Weimer called a "big blow."<ref name="Pilcher"/>

Fields graduated from [[Randall K. Cooper High School]] in 2015.<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/>

Fields entered the Army on August 18, 2015, and was released from active duty "due to a failure to meet training standards" on December 11 the same year.<ref name="Pilcher"/><ref name="Pilcher & Graves"/>  Army spokeswoman [[Lieutenant colonel|Lt. Col.]] Jennifer Johnson said that Fields "was never awarded a military occupational skill nor was he assigned to a unit outside of basic training."<ref name="Blinder"/>  Weimer lost contact with Fields after he had graduated and was "surprised" when he heard that Fields had managed to enlist in the army.<ref name="Pilcher"/>

Fields purchased his first car, the 2010 Dodge Challenger used in the attack, from a car dealership in [[Florence, Kentucky|Florence]], Kentucky, in June 2015.<ref name="Blinder"/><ref name="Balmert" /><ref name="Pilcher & Graves" />  The car was last registered in Ohio, and Fields updated its title in [[Maumee, Ohio|Maumee]], Ohio, in July 2015. In May 2017, local court records show, the Maumee police cited him for expired or unlawful license plates.<ref name="Balmert"/>

=== Ideology ===
An ex-schoolmate of Fields said that Fields would draw [[swastika]]s and talk about "loving [[Hitler]]" as early as [[middle school]].<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past" />  Fields' high school history teacher said that Fields was "deeply into Adolf Hitler and [[white supremacy]]".<ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Pilcher">{{cite web |last1=Pilcher |first1=James |title=Charlottesville suspect's beliefs were 'along the party lines of the neo-Nazi movement,' ex-teacher says |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/northern-ky/2017/08/13/charlottesville-suspects-beliefs-were-along-party-lines-neo-nazi-movement-ex-teacher-says/563139001/ |newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] |access-date=May 26, 2018 |date=August 14, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref> The teacher, Derek Weimer, reportedly taught Fields in three classes at Randall K. Cooper High School and "had regular interaction with him after classes and during free time".<ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Pilcher" /> He told ''[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]]'', "I'm sure if you would ask James he would say I was his favorite or one of his favorite teachers." Weimer said that Fields was "a very bright kid but very misguided and disillusioned".<ref name="Pilcher" /> Weimer said, "Once you talked to James for a while, you would start to see that sympathy towards [[Nazism]], that idolization of Hitler, that belief in white supremacy. It would start to creep out."<ref name="Toy">{{cite news|last1=Toy|first1=Sarah|last2=Bacon|first2=John|title=No bail for Charlottesville car attack suspect James Fields|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/08/14/james-alex-fields-jr-charlottesville-car-attack-suspect-faces-hearing-today/564002001/|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|access-date=May 27, 2018|date=August 14, 2017}}</ref>

Weimer said that he had done his best to steer Fields away from those interests and had thought that he had succeeded in doing so.<ref name="Ruiz" /> He said that he felt like he failed as a teacher because of the attack, but that "this is definitely a teachable moment and something we need to be vigilant about, because this stuff is tearing up our country".<ref name="Shapiro Jul 2018">{{cite news |last1=Shapiro |first1=T. Rees |last2=Crites |first2=Alice |last3=Vozzella |first3=Laura |last4=Cox |first4=John Woodrow |title=Alleged driver of car that plowed into Charlottesville crowd was a Nazi sympathizer, former teacher says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/one-dead-as-car-strikes-crowds-amid-protests-of-white-nationalist-gathering-in-charlottesville-two-police-die-in-helicopter-crash/2017/08/13/3590b3ce-8021-11e7-902a-2a9f2d808496_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=July 27, 2018 |date=August 13, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Pilcher" /> Weimer said that another teacher had filed a report during Fields' freshman year because he had written something that was "very much along the party lines of the [[neo-Nazi]] movement".<ref name="Pilcher" /> He said that it "would have been standard procedure" to notify Fields' mother and that the school administrators "were very good about keeping parents in the loop".<ref name="Pilcher" />

According to Weimer, Fields "left school for a while" and became quieter about politics when he came back, until his senior year, when the candidates for the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]] were declared. Weimer said that Fields supported [[Donald Trump]] because of what he perceived were [[Racial views of Donald Trump|Trump's racial views]]. According to Weimer, Fields supported [[Mexico–United States barrier#Trump administration|Trump's Mexico border proposal]]. Weimer said that Fields "admired" the [[Confederate States of America]] for [[Military of the Confederate States of America|their military]], though they "never spoke about [[slavery]]".<ref name="Pilcher"/> Weimer said that "the constant presence of the [[Confederate flag]] was an ongoing issue" and that an African-American cheerleader was "very uncomfortable having to ride in a parade being carried by a pickup truck with a large Confederate flag sticker".<ref name="Pilcher"/>

Fields reportedly made students feel "unnerved" and "unsafe," and one woman told ''[[The New York Times]]'', "On many occasions there were times he would scream obscenities, whether it be about Hitler or racial slurs."<ref name="Blinder"/> Fields's roommate on a class trip to Europe in 2015 told the [[Associated Press]] that Fields went on the trip only to visit Germany, and referred to it as the [[Fatherland]]. He could not handle being in a room with Fields after Fields spoke about French people "being lower than us and inferior to us".<ref name="apRoommate">{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Dake |last2=Rankin |first2=Sarah |title=Charlottesville driver previously accused of beating mother |url=https://www.apnews.com/ffec757d4c084bcda2c9ee4224e91c36/Mom-previously-accused-Charlottesville-driver-of-beating-her |website=AP News |access-date=August 9, 2018 |date=August 16, 2017}}</ref> Fields voted in the March&nbsp;15, 2016, [[Ohio Republican primary, 2016|Ohio Republican primary]].<ref name="Blinder" />

{{blockquote
|text=A lot of boys get interested in the Germans and Nazis because they're interested in World War II. But James took it to another level. He researched everything and had an intellectual argument for all his points, which is something you just don't see that often.
|author=Derek Weimer
|source=''The Cincinnati Enquirer''<ref name="Pilcher" />
}}

Fields' mother said that he had a pet cat, and that she was taking care of it during the rally. She did not know that her son was attending a white supremacist rally; instead, she thought that he was attending a Trump rally.<ref name="Ruiz"/> She told him "to be careful, and if they're going to rally to make sure he's doing it peacefully".<ref name="Balmert">{{cite news |last1=Balmert |first1=Jessie |last2=Strickley |first2=Bob |last3=Stanglin |first3=Doug |last4=Cavallaro |first4=Gabe |title=Ohio man charged in Charlottesville vehicle attack grew up in NKY |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2017/08/12/car-hit-charlottesville-crowd-purchased-florence-registered-ohio-online-records-show/562283001/ |newspaper=[[The Cincinnati Enquirer]] |access-date=May 27, 2018 |date=August 15, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref> She said that she "would be surprised if her son's views were so [[far right]] that he would attend a white supremacist rally" and that he had an African-American friend.<ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Pilcher" /> She told the ''[[Toledo Blade]]'' that she had not spoken with her son about his political views.<ref name="Ruiz" /> Fields's Facebook page included [[Internet meme|memes]] and symbols associated with the far right.<ref name="Blinder" /> At the Unite the Right rally, the morning of the attack, Fields was seen wielding a [[Vanguard America]] shield. Vanguard America, a [[neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] organization, stated that it was not associated with Fields.<ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="increases" />

== Victims ==
{{Infobox person
| name               = Heather Heyer
| image              = Heather-heyer-full-169.jpeg
| image_upright      = 0.7
| alt                = A caucasian woman in her early 30's, with long, straight brown hair, smiling at the camera.
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1985|5|29}}<ref name="Paramount Memorial">{{cite web |url=https://www.theparamount.net/heather/ |access-date=October 7, 2021 |title=Heather Heyer Memorial |date=August 15, 2017 |publisher=Paramount Theater |location=Charlottesville, Va.}}</ref>
| birth_place        = [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], U.S.<ref name="Paramount Memorial" />
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2017|8|12|1985|5|29}}
| death_place        = Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
| death_cause        = [[Murder]] ([[Blunt trauma|blunt-force]] [[Chest injury|trauma to the chest]])<ref name="Porter">{{cite web|last1=Porter|first1=Tom|title=Anti-racism activist Heather Heyer's cause of death has been revealed in a medical report|url=http://www.newsweek.com/charlottesville-heather-heyers-cause-death-revealed-medical-report-686471|website=[[Newsweek]]|access-date=May 24, 2018|date=October 17, 2017}}</ref>
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = [[Bartender]], [[waitress]], and [[paralegal]]<ref name="Caron" />
}}
Thirty-five people were injured in the incident, at least eight of whom sustained permanent and significant physical impairment.<ref name="Duggan"/>

'''Heather Danielle Heyer'''<ref name="Silverman & Laris" /> (May 29, 1985 – August 12, 2017) was the only person killed in the attack.<ref name="Almasy">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/13/us/charlottesville-heather-heyer-profile/index.html |title=Heather Heyer died 'fighting for what she believed in' |first1=Steve |last1=Almasy |first2=Chandrika |last2=Narayan |date=December 16, 2017 |access-date=August 29, 2018 |work=[[CNN World]] |publisher=[[Cable News Network]]}}</ref>

Heyer grew up in [[Ruckersville, Virginia]], and graduated from [[William Monroe High School]] in [[Stanardsville, Virginia]].<ref name="Paramount Memorial" /> She worked as a paralegal, bartender and waitress.<ref name="Caron" /> She was approached by Alfred A. Wilson, the manager of the bankruptcy division at the Miller Law Group in Charlottesville.<ref name="Caron" /> Heyer did not have a background in law; Wilson hired her at the recommendation of a friend and said that she "had an eye for detail" and was "a people person".<ref name="Caron" /> He reportedly told her, "If you can get people to open up to you, that's what I need. I'll teach you everything about the law you need to know."<ref name="Caron" /> She continued her job as a waitress while working at the law firm.<ref name="Caron" /> Wilson said that Heyer did not take any vacations during her first two years at Miller Law Group.<ref name="Caron" /> She left her boyfriend after he made a racist comment about Wilson.<ref name="Caron">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/heather-heyer-charlottesville-victim.html |title=Heather Heyer, Charlottesville Victim, Is Recalled as 'a Strong Woman' |last1=Caron |first1=Christina |date=August 13, 2017 |website=The New York Times |access-date=May 24, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Heyer lived alone save for a pet dog.<ref name="Caron" /><ref name="Silverman & Laris" /> Her friends described her "as a passionate advocate for the disenfranchised who was often moved to tears by the world's injustices", and said that she "spoke out against inequality and urged co-workers to be active in their community".<ref name="Caron" /> According to her mother, Susan Bro, Heyer would ask people of opposing views why they had come to their beliefs.<ref name="Silverman & Laris">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/charlottesville-victim-she-was-there-standing-up-for-what-was-right/2017/08/13/00d6b034-8035-11e7-b359-15a3617c767b_story.html|title=Charlottesville victim: 'She was there standing up for what was right'|last1=Silverman|first1=Ellie|last2=Laris|first2=Michael|date=August 13, 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=July 16, 2018|url-access=limited}}</ref> Bro said that they both advocated for [[Black Lives Matter]], which Bro said fights for equal treatment.<ref name="Silverman & Laris" />

{{blockquote|text=If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.|author=Heather Heyer|source=her last post published on [[Facebook]]<ref name="increases">{{cite news |last1=Spencer |first1=Hawes |last2=Pérez-Peña |first2=Richard |author-link2=Richard Pérez-Peña |title=Murder Charge Increases in Charlottesville Protest Death |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/us/charlottesville-fields-white-supremists.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=May 24, 2018 |date=December 14, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref><!-- 'If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention': Virginia murder victim's last Facebook post-->{{cite Q|Q123688395}}</ref>}}

Heyer and a longtime friend of hers had agreed not to protest the rally, because they thought it would be too dangerous, but the night before the protests, she felt compelled to go.<ref name="Silverman & Laris" />

== Legal proceedings ==

=== Federal investigation and trial ===
As investigations were launched into the attack, a Department of Justice official said that federal hate crime charges could be applied to the case.<ref name="Bacon" />

On August 12, the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] (DOJ) announced a joint civil rights investigation into the incident conducted by the Justice Department's [[United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division|Civil Rights Division]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and the U.S. Attorney for the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia|Western District of Virginia]].<ref name="Ruiz" /><ref name="Stolberg">{{cite web |last1=Stolberg |first1=Sheryl Gay |last2=Rosenthal |first2=Brian M. |title=Man Charged After White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville Ends in Deadly Violence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/12/us/charlottesville-protest-white-nationalist.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=August 12, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref> [[NPR]]'s [[Carrie Johnson (journalist)|Carrie Johnson]] reported that investigators wanted to know whether Fields had crossed state lines with the intent to commit violence.<ref name="Ruiz" /> A Department of Justice official said that they would "investigate whether others may have been involved in planning the attack."<ref name="Bacon" /> [[Lisa Monaco]], [[United States Homeland Security Advisor|Homeland Security Advisor]] to [[President of the United States|President]] [[Barack Obama]], raised the question of whether the attack would be investigated as [[Domestic terrorism in the United States|domestic terrorism]].<ref name="Savage">{{cite web |last1=Savage |first1=Charlie |title=A Hate Crime? How the Charlottesville Car Attack May Become a Federal Case |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/politics/charlottesville-sessions-justice-department.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=May 24, 2018 |date=August 13, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref> [[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Jeff Sessions]] said on ''[[Good Morning America]]'' on August 14 that the attack met the definition of domestic terrorism.<ref name="Hernández"/><ref name="Savage"/> Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that civil rights division FBI agents and FBI terrorism investigators were working on the case.<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/> FBI Director [[Christopher A. Wray]] said that the attack met the definition of domestic terrorism.<ref name="Toy"/>

{{blockquote
|text=You can be sure we will charge and advance the investigation towards the most serious charges that can be brought because this is unequivocally an unacceptable, evil attack.
|author=[[United States Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Jeff Sessions]]
|source=''[[Good Morning America]]'' (2017)<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past" />
}}

On June 27, 2018, as reported by the DOJ's Office of Public Affairs, a [[United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia|W.D. Va.]] federal grand jury charged Fields under two hate crime statutes with multiple federal [[hate crime]]s:<ref name="DOJ Public Affairs">{{cite press release |title=Ohio Man Charged with Federal Hate Crimes Related to August 2017 Rally in Charlottesville |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-man-charged-federal-hate-crimes-related-august-2017-rally-charlottesville |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]] Office of Public Affairs |access-date=August 1, 2018 |date=June 27, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Heim Jun 2018">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/man-accused-of-driving-into-crowd-at-unite-the-right-rally-charged-with-federal-hate-crimes/2018/06/27/09cdce3a-7a20-11e8-80be-6d32e182a3bc_story.html |title=Man accused of driving into crowd at 'Unite the Right' rally charged with federal hate crimes |last1=Heim |first1=Joe |date=June 27, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 27, 2018 |last2=Barrett |first2=Devlin |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Benner">{{cite web |last1=Benner |first1=Katie |last2=Spencer |first2=Hawes |title=Charlottesville Car Attack Suspect Indicted on Federal Hate Crime Charges |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/27/us/politics/charlottesville-death-hate-crime-charges.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=August 1, 2018 |date=June 27, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

*1 count of a hate crime act resulting in the death of Heather Heyer (18 U.S.C. § 249)
*28 counts of hate crime acts causing bodily injury and involving an attempt to kill (18 U.S.C. § 249)
*1 count of racially motivated violent interference with a federally protected activity [[Hate crime laws in the United States#Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1968|(18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(2))]] — resulting in the death of Heather Heyer, for driving his car into a crowd of protestors on a downtown street in Charlottesville, Virginia.<ref name="DOJ Public Affairs" />

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said of the indictment, "Last summer's violence in Charlottesville cut short a promising young life and shocked the nation. Today's indictment should send a clear message to every would-be criminal in America that we aggressively prosecute violent crimes of hate that threaten the core principles of our nation." W.D. Va. Attorney [[Thomas T. Cullen]] called the indictment "the culmination of a 10-month investigation that involved searching the social media accounts where Mr. Fields showed an interest in harming minorities." [[Adam S. Lee]], the [[Special Agent in Charge|special agent in charge]] of the FBI's [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] Division, said, "Heyer did not go to the event looking for a fight. She was looking to lend her voice to her cause. Peaceful protest without intimidation, without the threat of violence is every American's birthright."<ref name="Heim Jun 2018"/>

On July 5, 2018, Fields [[plea]]ded not guilty to all 30 counts of federal hate crime charges.<ref name="Strickley">{{cite web |last1=Strickley |first1=Bob |title=NKY native James Alex Fields pleads not guilty in Charlottesville attack |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/crime/crime-and-courts/2018/07/05/james-alex-fields-alleged-driver-pleads-not-guilty-charlottesville-attack/761153002/ |website=The Cincinnati Enquirer |access-date=July 27, 2018 |date=July 5, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>
On March 27, 2019, Fields altered his plea. Having originally pleaded not guilty on all charges, this was changed to guilty on 29 of 30 hate crime charges. It was speculated that this plea bargain was taken to avoid the possibility of the death penalty, as the option of capital punishment was removed from his potential sentence as a result of the alteration. In addition, Heyer's mother stated that she opposed the death penalty option and did not want Fields to die, saying, "There's no point in killing him. It would not bring back Heather."<ref name="Hassan">{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/27/us/james-fields-charlottesville/index.html |access-date=October 7, 2021 |date=March 27, 2019 |title=Charlottesville car attacker pleads guilty to 29 hate crimes and avoids the death penalty |first1=Carma |last1=Hassan |first2=Eric |last2=Levenson |website=CNN}}</ref><ref name="Killer Pleads Guilty">{{Cite web |date=March 26, 2019  |url=https://www.whsv.com/content/news/Unite-the-Right-rally-killer-due-in-court-for-change-of-plea-hearing-507687901.html |access-date=October 7, 2021 |title='Unite the Right' rally killer pleads guilty to federal charges, avoids death penalty |work=[[WHSV-TV]] |location=Harrisonburg, Va.}}</ref><ref name="Keneally">{{Cite web |first1=Meghan |last1=Keneally |first2=Kendall |last2=Karson |first3=Amanda |last3=Maile |date=March 27, 2019 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/charlottesville-car-rammer-plea-guilty-federal-hate-crimes/story?id=61951022 |title=Charlottesville car rammer changes his plea to guilty in federal hate crimes case |website=ABC News}}</ref> For the hate crime convictions, Fields was sentenced to life in prison on June 28, 2019.<ref name="Fieldstadt">{{cite web | url = https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/james-alex-fields-driver-deadly-car-attack-charlottesville-rally-sentenced-n1024436 | title = James Alex Fields, driver in deadly car attack at Charlottesville rally, sentenced to life in prison | first = Elisha | last =  Fieldstadt | date = June 28, 2019 | access-date = June 28, 2019 | work = [[NBC News]]}}</ref>
{{clear|right}}<!--please add new paragraphs to the above section above this line -->

=== State investigation and trial ===
Fields was initially charged with one count of [[second-degree murder]], three counts of [[malicious wounding]], and one count of [[hit and run]].<ref name="Ruiz" /> Fields appeared in court on August 14, via video from jail, and was denied bail.<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/> Fields said that he could not afford a lawyer; a private attorney was appointed by the judge, as a public defender could not be appointed due to a conflict of interest (a person linked to the public defender's office had been injured in the crash).<ref name="Toy"/><ref name="Hernández"/> By August 17, he was represented by Denise Y. Lunsford,<ref name="Robles">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/us/charlottesville-crash-sisters-fields.html |title=Rammed by Car in Charlottesville, but Seeing a Sign of Hope |first=Frances |last=Robles |date=August 17, 2017 |work=The New York Times |url-access=limited}}</ref> replacing Charles L. Weber.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbc29.com/story/36149724/former-commonwealths-attorney-appointed-to-represent-james-fields|title=Former Commonwealth's Attorney Appointed to Represent James Fields|website=www.nbc29.com|access-date=July 7, 2019|archive-date=July 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707093209/https://www.nbc29.com/story/36149724/former-commonwealths-attorney-appointed-to-represent-james-fields|url-status=dead}}</ref> The next hearing for Fields was set for August 25.<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past" />

On August 19, Fields was charged with two additional counts of malicious wounding, and three counts of [[Aggravation (law)|aggravated]] malicious wounding.<ref name="Fields Faces 5">{{cite web |title=Fields faces 5 additional felony charges related to Aug. 12 fatal crash |url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/fields-faces-additional-felony-charges-related-to-aug-fatal-crash/article_7608f516-845d-11e7-986e-b73741c8b869.html |website=[[The Daily Progress]] |location=Charlottesville, Va. |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819003212/http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/fields-faces-additional-felony-charges-related-to-aug-fatal-crash/article_7608f516-845d-11e7-986e-b73741c8b869.html |archive-date=August 19, 2017 |url-status=live |date=August 18, 2017}}</ref> Charlottesville Police [[Lieutenant]] Steve Upman said in a release, "The victims related to these charges suffered serious injuries and in some cases permanent physical disabilities." The investigation remained under the Charlottesville police, the FBI and the DOJ.<ref name="Fields Faces 5" /> It was also reported on August 19 that the FBI had been attempting to identify individuals who were near Fields a few minutes before the attack, and that the city police had stated multiple times that Fourth Street Southeast had not been "supposed to be open at that time" and that they were "still investigating how the street was opened and why vehicles were directed toward it."<ref name="Seal">{{cite web |last1=Seal |first1=Dean |title=FBI tries to ID people spotted with Fields |url=https://www.dailyprogress.com/fbi-tries-to-id-people-spotted-with-fields/article_e1eccc42-01e4-5b24-beb4-31a0445c7924.html |website=The Daily Progress |location=Charlottesville, Va. |url-access=subscription |access-date=January 13, 2019 |date=August 19, 2017}}</ref>

At the preliminary hearing in December 2017, State District Court Judge Robert H. Downer Jr. certified all ten charges to a grand jury. The certified charges were one count of [[first-degree murder]], three counts of malicious wounding, three counts of aggravated malicious wounding, two counts of felonious assault and one count of hit and run. Video footage of the surveying helicopter and surveillance video footage from a restaurant near the mall crossing were shown.<ref name="Berg May 2018" /> Surveillance video footage from the restaurant reportedly showed the Dodge Challenger zooming past "a string of vehicles" heading south on Fourth Street Southeast.<ref name="increases"/>

On January 3, 2018, Fields waived his right to a [[speedy trial]], and his trial was scheduled to begin on November 26, 2018, and lasted three weeks.<ref name="Heim Jun 2018"/><ref name="Fields Set">{{cite web |title=Fields set for three-week trial in November |url=https://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/fields-set-for-three-week-trial-in-november/article_d497a604-f0be-11e7-bc83-f7eff49a1576.html |website=The Daily Progress |location=Charlottesville, Va. |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 1, 2018 |date=January 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103211538/https://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/fields-set-for-three-week-trial-in-november/article_d497a604-f0be-11e7-bc83-f7eff49a1576.html |url-status=live |archive-date=January 3, 2018 }}</ref><!--The trial began on November 26, 2018.--><ref name="Fields Trial to Begin">{{cite news |title=Trial set to begin in deadly white nationalist rally |url=https://apnews.com/article/772bfb6fe3524ea3b24d714c375385e1 |access-date=November 27, 2018 |work=Associated Press |date=November 26, 2018 |first=Denise |last=Lavoie}}</ref> On December 7, Fields was found guilty of first-degree murder, hit and run, and eight counts of malicious wounding.<ref name="Hipolit">{{cite news |agency=CNN Wire |last=Hipolit |first=Melissa |url=https://wtvr.com/2018/12/07/james-fields-found-guilty-of-all-charges-in-murder-heather-heyer-in-charlottesville/ |title=James Fields guilty of murdering Heather Heyer in Charlottesville |date=December 7, 2018 |publisher=WTVR-TV |location=Richmond, Va. |access-date=December 7, 2018}}</ref> On December 11, the jury recommended life in prison for the killing of Heather Heyer along with an additional 419 years for the other crimes committed: 70 years for each of five malicious wounding charges, 20 for each of three malicious wounding charges, and nine years on one charge of leaving the scene of an accident.<ref name="AP Latest">{{cite news |title=The Latest: Slain woman's mom 'content' with life sentence |url=https://apnews.com/article/7b48312638db4e0eba2d459cbbca9b8d |date=December 11, 2018 |access-date=December 11, 2018 |agency=The Associated Press}}</ref> On July 15, 2019, Fields was given a second life sentence for the murder of Heyer, with an additional 419 years for the other crimes.<ref name="Second life sentence">{{cite web | url = https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/15/charlottesville-james-alex-fields-sentencing | title = Charlottesville white supremacist gets second life sentence, plus 419 years | date = July 15, 2019 | access-date = July 15, 2019 | agency = [[Associated Press]] | work = [[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

=== Civil trial ===
{{Main|Sines v. Kessler}}
Fields was one of the defendants in ''Sines v. Kessler'', a civil trial against various organizers, promoters, and participants in the Unite the Right rally. On November 23, 2021, jurors awarded $12{{Nbsp}}million in damages against Fields, who they found liable for assault and battery and intentional infliction of harm. Jurors also found that Fields, along with all other defendants, had engaged in [[Conspiracy (civil)|civil conspiracy]] under Virginia state law. Total [[damages]] in the suit, including those against Fields, totaled approximately $25{{Nbsp}}million.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|last=Woodward|first=Alex|date=November 23, 2021|title=Jury awards $25m to victims in 2017 'Unite the Right' assault|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/unite-the-right-lawsuit-charlottesville-b1963126.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2021|website=[[The Independent]]|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123210019/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/unite-the-right-lawsuit-charlottesville-b1963126.html |archive-date=November 23, 2021 }}</ref>

== Reactions ==
=== Memorial service ===
A memorial service was held at the [[Paramount Theater (Charlottesville, Virginia)|Paramount Theater]], two blocks from the attack location, on August 16. More than a thousand people attended the service, many of them wearing sashes and ribbons. Present were [[Governor of Virginia|Governor]] [[Terry McAuliffe]] (D-VA), Senator [[Tim Kaine]] (D-VA), [[Lieutenant Governor of Virginia|Lt. Gov.]] [[Ralph Northam]] (D-VA) and former [[Counselor to the President]] [[Ed Gillespie]] (R-VA).<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix">{{cite news |last1=Silverman |first1=Ellie |last2=Hernández |first2=Arelis R. |last3=Hendrix |first3=Steve |title='They tried to kill my child to shut her up,' Heather Heyer's mother mourns at funeral for woman killed during Nazi protest in Charlottesville |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/heather-heyers-grieving-mother-readies-herself-for-huge-public-farewell-to-my-child/2017/08/15/c5270e5e-81fa-11e7-ab27-1a21a8e006ab_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=August 16, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Heyer's mother Susan Bro delivered a speech calling for people to fight "as Heather would do."<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" /> A standing ovation lasted nearly a minute and a half after Bro said, "They tried to kill my child to shut her up, but guess what, you just magnified her."<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" /><ref name="Bromwich Aug 2017" /> Bro said that she had received hundreds of messages from people inspired by Heyer asking for advice. A woman played "[[Amazing Grace]]" and "[[America the Beautiful]]" on a saxophone. Heyer's father Mark Heyer said that Heather had been "defiant, strong-willed and compassionate" and that she "always argued for what she thought was right."<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" />

Several people with purple shields, pink bats and pink helmets with a heart drawn on each were observing outside the theater to stop any "fascist groups" that might disrupt the event. No problems were reported outside the theater. As the service ended, Bro asked someone in the audience to stop criticizing President Trump.<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix"/>

[[File:Tim Kaine inspects a makeshift memorial to Heather Heyer.jpg|thumb|right|Senator [[Tim Kaine]] of Virginia visits a makeshift memorial to Heather Heyer at the site of the attack.]]
Politicians were confronted outside the memorial service. After being asked about it, McAuliffe told a man that Virginia law leaves the [[Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials|removal of Confederate statues]] to local communities. Kaine was asked why the Charlottesville police "had failed to head off the weekend's violent clashes" and he said that, "city officials had promised an independent review of the police response."<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix"/>

=== Vigils ===
A vigil in remembrance of Heyer was planned for August 13 night, but was cancelled due to a "credible threat from white supremacists." People gathered and prayed at the site of the attack in spite of the cancellation.<ref name="Bacon" />

Hundreds of people gathered at the [[University of Virginia]] and in other U.S. cities, including [[Philadelphia]] and [[Akron, Ohio]].<ref name="Horton">{{cite news |last1=Horton |first1=Alex |title=What it looks like in Charlottesville, site of a massive vigil and march |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/16/here-is-the-scene-in-charlottesville-site-of-a-massive-vigil-and-march/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 11, 2018 |date=August 16, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

=== Randall K. Cooper High School ===
Michael Wilson, Principal of the [[Randall K. Cooper High School]] that Fields had attended, said: "As educators, we are always using teachable moments and providing guidance to students to create college, career and life ready students to make good and sound choices. ... We're all educators and we all are reflecting on what did we miss, or what could we do better. We do that with any student who may have made a wrong choice." He said that his staff sent [[thoughts and prayers]] to Charlottesville. Wilson said that the faculty members were worried about the victims and concerned about Fields.<ref name="Pilcher"/>

{{blockquote
|text=And there are others like him out there – we as a society have to do a better job of figuring out how to reach them. This isn't something that happens overnight ... it builds up over time and we need to pay more attention to this.
|author=Derek Weimer, Fields's history teacher at the Cooper High School
|source=''The Cincinnati Enquirer''<ref name="Pilcher"/>
}}

Principal Wilson called Fields a "quiet and reserved student."<ref name="Pilcher" /> Fields was described as "shy" and "quiet" by his ex-classmates and neighbors.<ref name="Blinder"/><ref name="Pilcher & Graves">{{cite web|last1=Pilcher|first1=James|last2=Graves|first2=Chris|title=Ex-neighbor of James Alex Fields Jr.: 'Hope they put him where the sun doesn't shine'|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/local/northern-ky/2017/08/13/former-classmate-neighbors-fields-seemed-shy-kept-himself/562917001/|website=The Cincinnati Enquirer|access-date=May 26, 2018|date=August 13, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref> A woman who went to school with Fields told ''The New York Times'' that he "mostly kept to himself" and "didn't start fights or try to fight," but described him as "exceptionally odd and an outcast to be sure."<ref name="Blinder" /> However, Fields's roommate on a class trip to Europe in 2015 told the Associated Press, "He had friends, he had people who would chat with him, it wasn't like he was an outcast."<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past" />

[[Boone County Schools]] spokeswoman Barbara Brady said that school officials "were not aware of any situation at Cooper High regarding Fields's behavior at the time of his enrollment." Brady questioned the trustworthiness of reports by Fields's ex-classmates, criticizing them for not reporting incidents.<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/>

{{blockquote
|text=This is something I'm guilty of, too, I kind of brushed it off as just creepy. We thought it was all talk. No one ever thought he would do something so violent.
|author=An ex-schoolmate
|source=''The Cincinnati Enquirer''<ref name="Records reveal tumultuous past"/>
}}

=== Public officials ===
The city of Charlottesville and its City Council published a statement: "This senseless act of violence rips a hole in our collective hearts. While it will never make up for the loss of a member of our community, we will pursue charges against the driver of the vehicle that caused her death and are confident justice will prevail."<ref name="Caron"/><ref name="Charlottesville Statement">{{cite press release |title=City of Charlottesville Statement on the Deaths of Heather D. Heyer, Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen and Trooper–Pilot Berke M.M. Bates |url=https://www.cvilletomorrow.org/articles/statement-of-condolence-on-the-deaths-of-heather |access-date=October 7, 2021 |publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow |date=August 14, 2017}}</ref> Mayor [[Michael Signer]] called the attack domestic terrorism and blamed white supremacists.<ref name="Bacon"/> In a statement on August 18, Mayor [[Michael Signer]] called on the City Council to "take concrete steps to memorialize Heather's name and legacy." Signer asked the governor to convene an emergency General Assembly session to allow Charlottesville to remove the statue of Robert E. Lee.<ref name="Bromwich Aug 2017"/>

[[Brian Moran]], the [[Virginia Secretary of Public Safety]], said, "He was a terrorist to do what he did."<ref name="Shapiro Jul 2018"/>

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement, "The violence and deaths in Charlottesville strike at the heart of American law and justice. When such actions arise from racial bigotry and hatred, they betray our core values and cannot be tolerated. Justice will prevail."<ref name="Ruiz"/>

On August 17, [[White House Deputy Press Secretary]] [[Lindsay Walters]] said that Trump would meet with Heyer's family.<ref name="Faulders">{{cite web |last1=Faulders |first1=Katherine |last2=Mallin |first2=Alexander |last3=Kelsey |first3=Adam |title=White House: Trump finding 'convenient' time to speak with Heyer's family |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-trump-finding-convenient-time-speak-charlottesville/story?id=49272806 |work=ABC News |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=August 18, 2017}}</ref>

==== President Trump ====
{{tweet
|text =           Condolences to the family of the young woman killed today, and best regards to all of those injured, in Charlottesville, Virginia. So sad!
|name =           Donald J. Trump
|username =       realDonaldTrump
|date =           August 13, 2017
|ID =             896512981319790592
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210108194830/https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/896512981319790592
|archive-date = 8 January 2021
|url-status = dead

|ref = {{dummy reference|1}} 
}}
{{tweet
|text =           Memorial service today for beautiful and incredible Heather Heyer, a truly special young woman. She will be long remembered by all!
|name =           Donald J. Trump
|username =       realDonaldTrump
|date =           August 16, 2017
|ID =             897834894822342656
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210108194853/https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/897834894822342656
|archive-date = 8 January 2021
|url-status = dead 
}}
U.S. President [[Donald Trump]] praised Heyer as "an incredible young woman."<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" /> Heyer's mother Susan Bro thanked Trump for his [[Unite the Right rally#Second statement|August 14 remarks]] on the event.<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" /> She wrote in a statement: "Thank you, President Trump, for those words of comfort and for denouncing those who promote violence and hatred. My condolences, also, to the grieving families of the two state troopers and quick recovery for those injured."<ref name="Bromwich Aug 2017">{{cite web |last1=Bromwich |first1=Jonah Engel |title=Mother of Woman Killed in Charlottesville Says She Will Not Speak to Trump |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/18/us/politics/susan-bro-trump-heather-heyer.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=August 18, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

In an [[Unite the Right rally#Third statement|August 15 statement]], widely condemned as endorsing white supremacists, Trump said:

{{Blockquote
|text=I think there is blame on both sides. You look at, you look at both sides. I think there's blame on both sides, and I have no doubt about it...you also had people that were very fine people on both sides.<ref name="Trump Full Text">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer; no byline--> |date=15 August 2017 |title=Full text: Trump's comments on white supremacists, 'alt-left' in Charlottesville |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/15/full-text-trump-comments-white-supremacists-alt-left-transcript-241662 |website=Politico}}</ref>
}}

In the same conference Trump clarified what he meant by "fine people":<ref name="Reilly">{{cite magazine |last=Reilly |first=Katie |date=15 August 2017 |title=President Trump Again Blames 'Both Sides' for Charlottesville Violence |url=https://time.com/4902129/president-donald-trump-both-sides-charlottesville/ |access-date=29 June 2020 |magazine=Time |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="Drobnic Holan">{{cite web |last=Drobnic Holan |first=Angie |date=26 April 2019 |title=In Context: Donald Trump's 'very fine people on both sides' remarks (transcript) |url=https://www.politifact.com/article/2019/apr/26/context-trumps-very-fine-people-both-sides-remarks/ |access-date=29 June 2020 |website=PolitiFact}}</ref><ref name="Farley">{{cite web |last=Farley |first=Robert |date=11 February 2020 |title=Trump Has Condemned White Supremacists |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2020/02/trump-has-condemned-white-supremacists/ |access-date=29 June 2020 |website=FactCheck.org}}</ref>

{{Blockquote
|text=I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.
}}

Also on August 15, Trump said about Bro's statement on Trump's August 14 statement:<ref name="Bromwich Aug 2017" /><ref name="Faulders" />

{{Blockquote
|text=I thought that the statement put out, the mother's statement, I thought was a beautiful statement. I'll tell you, it was something that I really appreciated. I thought it was terrific. And really, under the kind of stress that she's under, and the heartache she's under, I thought putting out that statement to me was really something I won't forget. Thank you all very much. Thank you.
}}

Bro initially declined to respond to Trump's August 15 statement as she was busy and tired.<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" /> After Bro saw Trump's August 15 statement, she said that she would not talk to Trump.<ref name="Bromwich Aug 2017" />

Trump tweeted about the memorial service the morning of the day that it occurred.<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" /><ref name="Faulders" /> No Trump administration officials were present at the service.<ref name="Silverman Hernández Hendrix" />

=== White nationalists ===
[[Jason Kessler]], the organizer of the Unite the Right rally, said that none of the organizers knew Fields.<ref name="Fausset" /> After being unable to hold a press conference due to violence, he accused the city of "shutting down" speech and said that the city officials "failed to separate the protest groups and were ill-equipped to handle the melee that resulted."<ref name="Bacon" /> White supremacist rally speaker [[Richard B. Spencer]] placed the blame for the attack on authorities, who "failed to keep order." Spencer refused to condemn Fields, saying, "This man could have lost control because he felt in danger and slammed on the accelerator and unintentionally killed someone."<ref name="Hernández"/>

On August 18, 2017, Kessler [[tweeted]] that Heyer "was a fat, disgusting Communist. Communists have killed 94 million. Looks like it was payback time." Kessler deleted the tweet the next day, initially saying he was hacked, but later claiming he had been on a mixture of drugs. Other white nationalists criticized Kessler for the tweet, including Richard Spencer, who wrote: "I will no longer associate w/ Jason Kessler; no one should. Heyer's death was deeply saddening. 'Payback' is a morally reprehensible idea."<ref name="Pearce">{{cite web |last1=Pearce |first1=Matt |title=Tweet from the account of Charlottesville rally organizer insults slain protester Heather Heyer |url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-charlottesville-organizer-20170818-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=August 1, 2018 |date=August 19, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Other white supremacists, such as [[James Allsup]] and [[Andrew Auernheimer]], went on to claim that Heyer's death was the result of a weight-related [[heart attack]],<ref name="Kaplan"/> a [[conspiracy theory]] which stemmed from a statement by Susan Bro in an [[NBC News]] interview<ref name="Dube Dwilson">{{cite web |last1=Dube Dwilson |first1=Stephanie |title=Heather Heyer Cause of Death: How Did She Die? |url=https://heavy.com/news/2018/08/heather-heyer-cause-of-death/ |website=Heavy.com |date=August 11, 2018|access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> and was pushed by white supremacist media outlets such as ''Occidental Dissent'' and ''[[The Daily Stormer]]'', the latter which had its services suspended by their domain registrar following a blog post mocking Heyer.<ref name="Hayden">{{cite web |last1=Hayden |first1=Michael Edison |title=Sexist 'Alt-Right' Conspiracy Surrounding Heather Heyer's Death Persists Despite Ruling From Medical Examiner |url=https://www.newsweek.com/sexist-alt-right-conspiracies-surrounding-heather-heyers-death-keep-swirling-687195 |website=Newsweek |date=October 17, 2017|access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Kaplan">{{cite web |last1=Kaplan |first1=Alex |title=Fringe media are furiously trying to absolve the white nationalist who allegedly killed Heather Heyer |url=https://www.mediamatters.org/maga-trolls/fringe-media-are-furiously-trying-absolve-white-nationalist-who-allegedly-killed |website=Media Matters for America |date=September 8, 2017|access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name="deGrandpre">{{cite news |last1=deGrandpre |first1=Andrew |title=The man who disparaged the Charlottesville victim is 'amused' by death threats |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/08/15/the-man-who-disparaged-the-charlottesville-victim-is-amused-by-death-threats/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=August 15, 2017|access-date=September 14, 2020|url-access=limited}}</ref>

Other debunked claims and conspiracy theories suggested that a [[Michigan]] man was driving the car during the ramming; that Fields was under assault and acted in self-defense, and that a protester threatened Fields with an [[AR-15 rifle]] before the attack.<ref name="Barrouquere 12-10-18">{{cite web |last1=Barrouquere |first1=Brett |title=How the 'Unite the Right' murder trial helped debunk alt-right myths |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/12/10/how-unite-right-murder-trial-helped-debunk-alt-right-myths |website=Hatewatch |publisher=Southern Poverty Law Center |date=December 10, 2018 |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> Lawyer [[Mark Fenster]] said those conspiracy theories were "part of a self-sustaining narrative created by white nationalists who might be worried that the violence that took place delegitimized their cause."<ref name="Hayden"/>

=== Heyer's family members ===
Heyer's mother Susan Bro said that she did not want people to hate Fields.<ref name="Silverman & Laris" /> She said that it was not what her daughter would have wanted.<ref name="Silverman & Laris"/>

Heyer's father urged people to "stop the hate" and said he was proud of her for taking a stand to help others. He expressed he had forgiven his daughter's killer, saying that "My thoughts with all of this stuff are that people need to stop hating and they need to forgive each other. I include myself in that forgiving the guy that did this. He doesn't know [any] better. I just think about [[Sayings of Jesus on the cross|what the Lord said on the cross]]. Lord, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing."<ref name="Agnihotri">{{cite web |last1=Agnihotri |first1=Amruta |title=Who is Mark Heyer? Charlottesville Victim's Father Says He Forgives Daughter's Killer |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/who-mark-heyer-charlottesville-victims-father-says-he-forgives-daughters-killer-2579011 |website=IB Times |access-date=December 22, 2019 |date=August 16, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Denemark">{{cite news|last1=Denemark|first1=Malcolm|last2=Gallop|first2=J.D.|date=August 14, 2017|title='People need to stop hating,' father of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer says|work=USA Today|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/08/14/charlottesville-protest-victim-father/564799001/|access-date=June 5, 2020}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
[[File:Police block of crash site (36195158640).jpg|thumb|right|Police blocking the site of the crash]]
Felicia Correa, Heyer's childhood friend, launched a crowdfunding page for her funeral expenses. She said that she was speaking for Heyer's mother when she set up the page, expressing that she was not ready to speak in public. Felicia said, "She died doing what was right. My heart is broken, but I am forever proud of her."<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite web|last=Kennedy|first=Maev|date=August 13, 2017|title=Heather Heyer, victim of Charlottesville car attack, was civil rights activist|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/13/woman-killed-at-white-supremacist-rally-in-charlottesville-named|access-date=September 29, 2018|website=The Guardian}}</ref> The [[GoFundMe]] campaign created to support Heyer's family surpassed {{USD|200000}} in a day.<ref name="Caron" /> Fundraising websites removed campaigns that had sought to fund Fields's [[legal defense fund|legal defense]].<ref name="Dang">{{cite web|last1=Dang|first1=Sheila|date=August 15, 2017|title=Crowdfunding sites refuse to raise money for white nationalists|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/charlottesville-latest-james-alex-field-crowdfunding-white-nationalists-kkk-neo-nazis-gofundme-a7893891.html|access-date=July 9, 2018|website=[[The Independent]]}}</ref> The [[Democratic Socialists of America]] quickly raised {{USD|198000}}, but were criticized for the convoluted application process for victims and timeliness in addressing their applications. The money raised was eventually transferred to the [[National Compassion Fund]] for management and disbursement.<ref name="Newton">{{cite web|last1=Newton|first1=Creede|date=December 7, 2017|title=Charlottesville: Where's the $200,000 the DSA raised?|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/charlottesville-200000-dsa-raised-171204165738796.html|access-date=August 3, 2018|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]]|quote=Clarification Dec. 7, 2017: This article has been amended to make clear the National Compassion Fund controls and is responsible for the disbursement of funds, after concerns were raised by the DSA.}}</ref>

Her mother said she wanted Heather's name to become "a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion".<ref name="Calfas">{{cite news |last=Calfas |first=Jennifer |title=Charlottesville Victim's Mother: I Want Her Death to be 'a Rallying Cry for Justice' |date=August 13, 2017 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://time.com/4898705/heather-heyer-mother-susan-bro-charlottesville-virginia-rally/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813212800/http://time.com/4898705/heather-heyer-mother-susan-bro-charlottesville-virginia-rally |archive-date=August 13, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref> Heyer's memorial service was held at Charlottesville's Paramount Theater on August 16; her mother spoke to hundreds of mourners, asking them to honor her by acting against injustice and turning "anger into righteous action".<ref name="Witte">{{cite news |last1=Witte |first1=Brian |last2=Rankin |first2=Sarah |date=August 16, 2017 |title=Heather Heyer remembered at Charlottesville memorial service |work=The Mercury News |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/16/charlottesville-to-mourn-woman-killed-at-rally-in-memorial |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817041015/http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/16/charlottesville-to-mourn-woman-killed-at-rally-in-memorial |archive-date=August 17, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> On the last day of his job, photojournalist [[Ryan Kelly (photojournalist)|Ryan Kelly]] took a photograph of the attack for ''[[The Daily Progress]]'', the sole daily newspaper in the vicinity of Charlottesville. On April 16, 2018, Kelly won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography]].<ref name="Jenkins">{{cite magazine |last1=Jenkins |first1=Aric |title=A Charlottesville Photographer Took His Tragic, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Shot on His Last Day. Now He Works for a Brewery |url=http://time.com/5242423/ryan-kelly-photograph-pulitzer-prize-charlottesville/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=July 11, 2018 |date=April 16, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

Photographer Jeremiah Knupp also took a photograph of the attack, working for ''[[The News Leader]]'', a daily newspaper serving [[Staunton, Virginia]], and the surrounding areas. Knupp took the photograph from a pole on the parking garage, south-west of the intersection of Water Street and Fourth Street Southeast.<ref name="Cavallaro">{{cite web |last1=Cavallaro |first1=Gabe |title=Photo shows fatal attack on pedestrians with car |url=https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/2017/08/12/photo-shows-car-attack-pedestrians/562232001/ |website=[[The News Leader]] |location=Staunton, Va. |access-date=August 11, 2018 |date=August 13, 2017}}</ref>

Heyer's mother Susan Bro started the nonprofit Heather Heyer Foundation. It was funded from the GoFundMe campaign and from new donations. Bro said that the foundation would be devoted to civil rights and provide scholarships to people who want [[social justice]].<ref name="Alcindor">{{cite web |last1=Alcindor |first1=Yamiche |title=Foundation Started by Charlottesville Victim's Mother Promotes Social Justice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/26/us/politics/foundation-started-by-charlottesville-victims-mother-promotes-social-justice.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=July 9, 2018 |date=August 26, 2017 |url-access=limited}}</ref> She quit her job as a secretary and bookkeeper for a Virginia Cooperative Extension office after the attack, and became the president and chair of the board of the Heather Heyer Foundation.<ref name="Rankin">{{cite web |last=Rankin |first=Sarah |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2017/12/19/heather-heyer-susan-bro-charlottesville-street-dedication/967470001/ |title=Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer's mother to speak at street dedication |website=[[USA Today]] |date=December 19, 2017 |access-date=July 31, 2018 |agency=The Associated Press}}</ref>

[[File:Heather Heyer Way located in Charlottesville, Virginia.jpg|thumb|Honorary Heather Heyer Way]]
On August 15, 2017, Tadrint and Micah Washington, who were in the white sedan that was hit during the attack, filed a US$3 million lawsuit in damages against Jason Kessler, James Alex Fields Jr., Richard Spencer and 30 other groups and individuals.<ref name="Berg 2017">{{cite web |last1=Berg |first1=Lauren |title=$3M lawsuit filed against Kessler, Fields and others after fatal crash |url=https://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/m-lawsuit-filed-against-kessler-fields-and-others-after-fatal/article_a024d09c-81ea-11e7-992f-c3882c7102c9.html |website=The Daily Progress |location=Charlottesville, Va. |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 1, 2018 |date=August 15, 2017}}</ref>

Susan Bro presented the 2017 [[MTV Video Music Award for Best Fight Against the System]].<ref name="Alcindor" />

In September 2017, [[New York's 25th State Assembly district|New York's 25th Assembly district]] Representative [[Nily Rozic]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]], filed a bill and petitioned the [[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]] to rename the [[Donald J. Trump State Park]] in honor of Heyer.<ref name="Shugerman">{{cite web |last1=Shugerman |first1=Emily |title=A New York politician is campaigning to rename Trump park after Heather Heyer |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-park-heather-heyer-petition-rename-democrat-campaign-nily-rozic-a7934806.html |website=[[The Independent]] |access-date=July 11, 2018 |date=September 7, 2017}}</ref>

On December 20, 2017, a part of Fourth Street Southeast in Charlottesville, where the attack occurred, was designated Honorary Heather Heyer Way.<ref name="Rankin" />

On the afternoon of May 12, 2018, Heyer's close friend Marissa Blair married her fiancé Marcus Martin, who pushed her out of the car's way and was injured in the attack himself.<ref name="La Gorce">{{cite web |last1=La Gorce |first1=Tammy |title=Months After a Brutal Day in Charlottesville, a Tender Wedding |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/fashion/weddings/charlottesville-protester-wedding.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=July 11, 2018 |date=May 16, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref> During the ceremony, Blair led a butterfly release in remembrance of Heyer.<ref name="Bowerman">{{cite web |last1=Bowerman |first1=Mary |title=Couple who survived Charlottesville attack get married in service dedicated to slain friend |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/18/couple-hurt-charlottesville-attack-marry-remember-heather-heyer/622270002/ |website=[[USA Today]] |access-date=July 11, 2018 |date=May 18, 2018}}</ref>

Director [[Spike Lee]] dedicated his 2018 film ''[[BlacKkKlansman]]'' in Heyer's memory,<ref name="Whipp">{{cite web|last=Whipp|first=Glenn|date=November 18, 2019|title='BlacKkKlansman': Spike Lee's urgent message about terrorism, truth and Donald Trump|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-spike-lee-blackkklansman-20181114-story.html|access-date=July 14, 2019|website=Los Angeles Times |url-access=limited}}</ref> featuring video footage of the attack.<ref name="Park">{{cite web |last1=Park |first1=Andrea |title=Spike Lee slams Trump at Cannes, talks about using Heather Heyer's death scene in new film |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spike-lee-slams-trump-at-cannes-blackkklansman-premiere-charlottesville-heather-heyer/ |work=[[CBS News]] |access-date=July 11, 2018 |date=May 16, 2018}}</ref>

In 2018, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that the attack had helped bring about the alt-right's decline in power, quoting leading figures in the alt-right and anti-extremism experts who said membership in alt-right-affiliated groups had fallen and rallies organized by these groups had become less frequent.<ref>{{cite news |last=McCoy |first=Terrence |title='Imploding': Financial troubles. Lawsuits. Trailer park brawls. Has the alt-right peaked? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/imploding-lawsuits-fundraising-troubles-trailer-park-brawls-has-the-alt-right-peaked/2018/04/20/0a2fb786-39a6-11e8-9c0a-85d477d9a226_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=July 9, 2022 |date=April 20, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Fausset |first1=Richard |last2=Feuer |first2=Alan |last3=Kovaleski |first3=Serge F. |title=A Year After Charlottesville, Disarray in the White Supremacist Movement |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/us/charlottesville-unite-the-right-white-supremacists.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=July 9, 2022 |date=August 13, 2018}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' contended that the event motivated anti-fascist activists to more extensively coordinate counter-protests against these groups, further facilitating their declines.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Jason |title=The alt-right is in decline. Has antifascist activism worked? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/19/the-alt-right-is-in-decline-has-antifa-activism-worked |website=The Guardian |access-date=July 9, 2022 |date=March 19, 2018}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist| refs=

<ref name="Duggan & Jouvenal">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/neo-nazi-sympathizer-pleads-guilty-to-federal-hate-crimes-for-plowing-car-into-crowd-of-protesters-at-unite-the-right-rally-in-charlottesville/2019/03/27/2b947c32-50ab-11e9-8d28-f5149e5a2fda_story.html?noredirect=on |title=Neo-Nazi sympathizer pleads guilty to federal hate crimes for plowing car into crowd of protesters at 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville |last1=Duggan |first1=Paul |last2=Jouvenal |first2=Justin |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 1, 2019 |access-date=March 27, 2019 |url-access=limited}}</ref>

}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |first=Jennifer |last=Hawes |year=2019 |title=Grace Will Lead Us Home: The Charleston Church Massacre and the Hard, Inspiring Journey to Forgiveness |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-2501-1776-2}}
* {{cite magazine |title=Top 10 Photos of the Year |magazine=Time |url=http://time.com/top-10-photos-of-2017/ |url-access=limited}} Includes an essay by photojournalist Ryan Kelly.
<!--- Nora Neus: ''24 HOURS IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: An Oral History of August 12, 2017'' (Beacon Press, Summer 2023)--->

==External links==
{{Commons category|2017 Charlottesville Challenger crash}}
{{Wikinews|Ohio man charged with second-degree murder of Charlottesville, Virginia counter-protester}}
[[File:Charlottesville Reflects After Deadly White Supremacist Rally.webm|thumb|right|[[Voice of America]] report on the rally and the car attack]]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edf_uSysZZ4 Report by Heidi Zhou-Castro, Al Jazeera, Charlottesville, Virginia]

===Footage===
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4MKwzPYrbk Video-only drone footage of the attack obtained by NBC News]
*[https://www.periscope.tv/Rebelutionary_Z/1lDxLkeLygzJm?t=7m10s Video footage of the attack live streamed on Periscope]

===Aftermath===
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCNJq3QNRPk Marissa Blair and her fiancé Marcus Martin on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'']
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gPIc2SeIvk Susan Bro on ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'']

{{Portal bar|Politics|Virginia}}
{{Charlottesville, Virginia}}
{{Unite the Right rally}}
{{Vehicle-ramming attacks}}

[[Category:2017 in Virginia]]
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