June 27 (UPI) — Prosecutors filed federal hate crimes charges Wednesday against the driver accused of ramming protesters at a rally in Charlottesville, Va., last summer — killing one and injuring dozens more.
The Department of Justice announced an indictment returned Wednesday that charges James Alex Fields with 30 crimes, including one count of a hate crime resulting in the death of Heather Heyer.
Fields, a 21-year-old from Ohio, also faces 28 other hate crimes for attempting to kill the others he hit during the Aug. 12 attack, and one count of racially motivated violent interference with a federally protected activity.
Cellphone video showed the Dodge Challenger drive onto a narrow street filled with protesters and counter-protesters who opposed a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said his department “remains resolute that hateful ideologies will not have the last word and that their adherents will not get away with violent crimes against those they target.”
“Last summer’s violence in Charlottesville cut short a promising young life and shocked the nation,” he added. “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.”
