FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail shows James Alex Fields Jr. A sentencing hearing has been moved up for the self-avowed white supremacist convicted of federal hate crimes for plowing his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia. Fields was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 3, 2019. A notice filed in court says the hearing has been moved to June 28. (Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail via AP, File)

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail shows James Alex Fields Jr. A sentencing hearing has been moved up for the self-avowed white supremacist convicted of federal hate crimes for plowing his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia. Fields was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 3, 2019. A notice filed in court says the hearing has been moved to June 28. (Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail via AP, File)

(AP) – An avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia has been sentenced to life in prison on hate crime charges.

James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in March to federal hate crime charges in an attack that killed one person and injured more than two dozen others. He will be sentenced next month on separate state charges. Fields apologized before the judge handed down his sentence.

The “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017, drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Fields admitted deliberately driving his car into counterprotesters who showed up to demonstrate against the white nationalists. The case stirred racial tensions around the country. </s> June 28 (UPI) -- An Ohio man received life in prison on federal hate crimes charges Friday for driving his car into a crowd full of counterprotesters during a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

James Alex Fields Jr., 22, received life sentences on 29 counts of hate crimes, 27 of which he will serve concurrently. The sentences will also be served concurrently with his pending sentencing on state charges.

He pleaded guilty to one count of a hate crime act that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer and 28 counts of hate crime acts that caused bodily injury and involved an attempt to kill. Fields, a self-avowed white supremacist, said he drove his car into the crowd with the intention of killing people protesting against a white supremacist rally Aug. 12, 2017.

Fields apologized for his actions during Friday's hearing.

"Every day I think about how things could have gone different and how I regret my actions," he said.

Heyer's mother and father said they forgave Fields.

"I would like to see him find meds that help heal his mind," mother Susan Bro said. "I would like to see him grow from a white supremacist into someone who can help bring others away from white supremacy."

"I want the court and Mr. Fields to know that after everything we've heard today that I forgive you," father Mark Heyer said.

A Virginia jury found Fields guilty of state charges of first-degree murder, five counts of aggravated malicious wounding, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit-and-run in December. The panel recommended life in prison.

Fields is scheduled to be sentenced on the state charges July 15. </s> CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - An avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia has been sentenced to life in prison on hate crime charges.

James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in March to federal hate crime charges in an attack that killed one person and injured more than two dozen others.

He will be sentenced next month on separate state charges.

Fields apologized before the judge handed down his sentence.

The "Unite the Right" rally on Aug. 12, 2017, drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Fields admitted deliberately driving his car into counterprotesters who showed up to demonstrate against the white nationalists.

The case stirred racial tensions around the country.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The Latest on the sentencing of a man who deliberately drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally (all times local):

An avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia has been sentenced to life in prison on hate crime charges.

James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in March to federal hate crime charges in an attack that killed one person and injured more than two dozen others.

He will be sentenced next month on separate state charges.

Fields apologized before the judge handed down his sentence.

The “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017, drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Fields admitted deliberately driving his car into counterprotesters who showed up to demonstrate against the white nationalists.

The case stirred racial tensions around the country.

The mother of a woman who died when an avowed white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, says she wants James Alex Fields Jr. to spend the rest of his life in prison but hopes he also can get the help he needs.

Speaking during Fields’ sentencing hearing Friday, Susan Bro said she hopes Fields “can heal someday and help others heal.”

Her testimony was one of more than a dozen statements given by survivors and witnesses to the 2017 attack.

Fields appeared stoic, stared straight ahead and didn’t look at any of the victims.

Rosia Parker said she was standing feet away from Bro’s daughter Heather Heyer when Heyer was struck. Looking directly at Fields, she remarked that he “could have done anything else but what you did.”

“So, yeah, you deserve everything that you get.”

Prosecutors have told a judge that an avowed white supremacist responsible for a deadly car attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, was “like a kid at Disney World” during his high school trip to a German concentration camp.

FBI Special Agent Wade Douthit read grand jury testimony Friday from a high school classmate of James Alex Fields Jr. The classmate said Fields appeared happy when touring the Dachau camp and remarked, “This is where the magic happened.”

The statement provoked audible gasps from a packed courtroom crowd that included dozens of people who were injured and the mother of a woman who was killed when Fields deliberately drove his car into a group of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in 2017.

The testimony came during Fields’ sentencing hearing. Prosecutors have asked for life in prison. The defense has asked for an unspecified time that is less than life.

(This item has been edited to correct the spelling of Dachau).

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to give a life sentence to a man convicted of hate crimes for plowing his car into a crowd demonstrating against a white nationalist rally two years ago in Virginia.

But lawyers for James Alex Fields Jr. will argue the 22-year-old man deserves some leniency because he had a traumatic childhood and a history of mental illness.

Prosecutors argue that Fields deserves life in prison for killing a woman and injuring dozens of others when he deliberately drove into the anti-racist demonstrators on Aug. 12, 2017.

Fields’ lawyers argue that a sentence shorter than life is appropriate because of Fields’ young age and his struggles with mental illness. </s> The man convicted of murder in the deadly car attack on counterprotesters at the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges Wednesday in order to dodge a possible death penalty.

James Alex Fields Jr., 21, from Maumee, Ohio, pleaded guilty to 29 of 30 charges against him. The 30th charge, which included a possible death sentence, was dropped. He’s been ordered to return to court on July 3 to be sentenced.

The single charge in Count 30 was brought under a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. It had accused Fields of racially motivated violent interference with a federally protected activity — counterprotesters using the public streets and sidewalks of Charlottesville — and carried a possible death penalty.

Fields was convicted in state court in December for the death of anti-racism activist Heather Heyer, 32, and for injuring dozens more during the infamous United The Right rally on Aug. 12, 2017.

“The defendant in this case has pled guilty to 29 hate crimes which he committed by driving his car into a crowd of protesters,” Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. “These hate crimes are also acts of domestic terrorism.”

Barr cited the recent mosque massacre in New Zealand that left 50 dead in saying the nation must have zero tolerance for racial and religious bias.

“In the aftermath of the mass murder in New Zealand earlier this month, we are reminded that a diverse and pluralistic community such as ours can have zero tolerance for violence on the basis of race, religion, or association with people of other races and religions,” according to Barr.

Before Wednesday in this separate federal prosecution, Fields had pleaded not guilty to 30 hate crime charges. One of those charges had carried a possible death sentence.

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Thomas Cullen said he hopes this courtroom deal will spare survivors of reliving that day.

“Although the defendant’s guilty plea cannot undo the pain, suffering, and loss that he caused, it is my hope that it will enable these victims and our community to continue the healing process,” Cullen said.

Hundreds of white nationalists converged on Charlottesville just before the start of the fall term to protest to famed university’s planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

About 30 more people were hurt in Fields’ car attack.

Jurors in his state case found him guilty of murder and recommended he be sentenced to life in prison, plus 419 years.Sentencing in that case is scheduled for July 15.

President Donald Trump blamed the violence at the rally on “both sides” and critics of his viewed that as a refusal to condemn racism. </s> CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — An avowed white supremacist who drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters during a white nationalist rally in Virginia was sentenced to life in prison Friday on hate crime charges.

James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, had pleaded guilty in March to the 2017 attack that killed one person and injured more than two dozen others. In exchange, prosecutors dropped their request for the death penalty. His attorneys asked for a sentence less than life. He will be sentenced next month on separate state charges.

Before the judge handed down his sentence, Fields, accompanied by one of his lawyers, walked to a podium in the courtroom and spoke.

“I apologize for the hurt and loss I’ve caused,” he said, later adding, “Every day I think about how things could have gone differently and how I regret my actions. I’m sorry.”

Fields’ comment came after more than a dozen survivors of and witnesses to the attack delivered emotional testimony about the physical and psychological wounds they had received as a result of the events that day.

The “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017, drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The case stirred racial tensions around the country.

Fields was charged with 29 hate crime counts and one count of “racially motivated violent interference.” He pleaded guilty to 29 of the counts.

In a sentencing memo filed in court last week, Fields’ lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski to consider a sentence of “less than life.”

“No amount of punishment imposed on James can repair the damage he caused to dozens of innocent people. But this Court should find that retribution has limits,” his attorneys wrote.

Fields faces sentencing in state court on July 15. A jury has recommended life plus 419 years.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for all the latest news, weather and sports. </s> The Latest: Man pleads guilty to hate crimes in car attack

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — The Latest on a man pleading guilty to federal hate crime charges in a deadly car attack at white nationalist rally in Virginia(all times local):

A man convicted on state murder charges in a deadly car attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia has pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges.

James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, pleaded guilty Wednesday to 29 federal charges stemming from the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017.

The 21-year-old Fields was convicted in December of first-degree murder and other state charges for killing anti-racism activist Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others. A jury found that Fields intentionally plowed his car into a crowd of people protesting against the white nationalists.

On Wednesday, Fields admitted he violated federal hate crime laws when he targeted the group.

A man convicted on state murder charges in a deadly car attack on counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Virginia is due in federal court for a change-of-plea hearing.

James Alex Fields Jr., of Maumee, Ohio, was convicted in state court in December in the death of anti-racism activist Heather Heyer and for injuring dozens more.

Fields separately pleaded not guilty to 30 federal hate crime charges in July. An online court docket says Fields is scheduled to appear in federal court in Charlottesville on Wednesday for a change-of-plea hearing.

One of the charges carries the death penalty, although prosecutors have not announced whether they planned to seek that punishment.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen declined to comment. Lawyers for Fields did not respond to requests for comment. </s> An Ohio man pleaded guilty Wednesday to 29 federal hate crimes killing one and injuring 28 others when he drove his car into a crowd during a 2017 white nationalist rally.

He admitted he intended to kill others, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

James Alex Fields Jr., originally from Boone County, Kentucky, was earlier convicted on state murder charges in the deadly car attack at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville.

More: Charlottesville: Life has been a 'living nightmare' since James Alex Fields struck her

On Wednesday, the 21-year-old Fields admitted he violated federal hate crime laws when he targeted the group.

The charges include one count of a hate crime act that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal, and 28 counts of hate crime acts that caused bodily injury and involved an attempt to kill other people within the crowd, according to the Department of Justice.

Each of the counts carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

“In the aftermath of the mass murder in New Zealand earlier this month, we are reminded that a diverse and pluralistic community such as ours can have zero tolerance for violence on the basis of race, religion, or association with people of other races and religions,” Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement, adding, "These hate crimes are also acts of domestic terrorism."

In a statement of facts agreed to and signed by Fields, he admitted he intended to kill other victims he struck with his car.

Fields was convicted in December of first-degree murder for killing anti-racism activist Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others assembled to protest against the white nationalists.

A jury found that Fields intentionally plowed his car into the crowd of people.

The Department of Justice said that before the attack, Fields admitted to using social media to espouse policies from Nazi-era Germany and to support violence against African-Americans, Jewish people and groups "he perceived to be non-white."

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement that "everyone across the country felt the impact" of the violence in Charlottesville.

"This guilty plea underscores that we won’t stand for hate and violence in our communities," Wray said. "Together with our law enforcement and community partners, we’ll continue to aggressively investigate hate crimes, domestic terrorism and civil rights violations.” </s> Stickers and hand-written chalk messages line the walls Aug 10, 2018, outside the building where Heather Heyer was killed by a speeding vehicle driven by a white supremacist as she was protesting the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA - Self-described neo-Nazi James Fields, who was convicted of killing Ms Heather Heyer by ramming his car into a crowd protesting against a white supremacist rally in a Virginia college town in 2017, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (March 27) in his federal hate crimes case.

Fields, 21, pleaded guilty to 28 federal counts of hate crime acts causing bodily injury and involving an attempt to kill, and one count of a hate crime act that resulted in the death of Ms Heyer during a hearing in United States District Court in Charlottesville.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Under the plea agreement, US prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty.

"In the aftermath of the mass murder in New Zealand earlier this month, we are reminded that a diverse and pluralistic community such as ours can have zero tolerance for violence on the basis of race, religion or association with people of other races and religions," US Attorney-General William Barr said in a statement released by the Department of Justice.

Fields already faces a sentence of life in prison after being found guilty in state court of Ms Heyer's murder and for injuring 19 in Charlottesville, which is home to the University of Virginia, in August 2017.

Fields, who wore a striped, grey prison uniform and sported a full beard and glasses, told the judge he has been treated for anxiety and depression since he was six years old.

Ms Heyer's mother Susan Bro was in the courtroom along with many of the victims, and they stood and watched while US marshals handcuffed Fields and led him out of the courtroom.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 3.

In December, a Virginia jury recommended that Fields spend the rest of his life in prison after finding him guilty of first-degree murder and nine other crimes for killing Ms Heyer, 32, and injuring 19 people after the "Unite the Right" gathering on Aug 12, 2017.

Fields, a resident of Maumee, Ohio, was photographed hours before the attack carrying a shield with the emblem of a far-right hate group. He has identified himself as a neo-Nazi.

Fields' attorneys never disputed that he accelerated his Dodge Charger into a group of counter-protesters at the rally, sending bodies flying. The lawyers suggested Fields felt intimidated and acted to protect himself.

The event proved a critical moment in the rise of the "alt-right", a loose alignment of fringe groups centred on white nationalism and emboldened by President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential victory.

Mr Trump was criticised from the left and right for initially saying there were "fine people on both sides" of a dispute between neo-Nazis and their opponents. Subsequent alt-right gatherings failed to draw the crowds of size that assembled in Charlottesville.
James A. Fields Jr. is sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to 29 hate crimes for driving his car into a crowd of protestors, killing one and injuring 28, at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.