A 20-year-old Ohio man was arrested on Saturday after he ‘intentionally drove his vehicle into a crowd of anti-fascists at white nationalist rally, killing one woman and injuring 19 others’ in Charlottesville, Virginia.
James Alex Fields Jr, of Maumee, Ohio, is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder, according to the jail’s superintendent Martin Kumer.
Video of the Dodge Challenger, which is registered to Fields, showed the driver accelerating into the crowd throwing bodies into the air as people scream before reversing at high speed.
The incident killed a 32-year-old woman, whose identity has not been released by authorities pending her family’s notification.
Fields was apprehended and arrested a few blocks away from the bloody scene.
Kumer said Fields was also booked on suspicion of malicious wounding, failure to stop for an accident involving a death, and hit and run. Kumer said Fields is being held without bail.
The deadly crash came after violent clashes erupted as hundreds of white supremacists including armed militias marched into Charlottesville sparking violent confrontations with counter-protesters.
Police cleared the scene with tear gas but the violence continued.
Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said a total of 35 people had been treated for injuries, 14 of those were from individual engagements on the streets.
Horrifying video from the scene of the attack showed the silver muscle car speeding towards a group of fleeing anti-fascist protesters.
Another clip showed the vehicle ramming into the crowd at high speed and victims crying out in pain as they desperately sought medical help.
Witnesses said the car was traveling up to 40 miles an hour when it hit and reversed before ramming into the crowd again and speeding off with someone’s shoe attached to its bumper.
Virginia Gov Terry McAuliffe strongly condemned all of the so-called ‘patriotic’ white nationalists during a press conference Saturday evening.
‘Go home. You are not wanted in this great commonwealth,’ McAuliffe proclaimed. ‘You are not patriots,’ he said. ‘You came here today to hurt people and that is not patriotic,’ McAuliffe added.
A Dodge Challenger (pictured) intentionally plowed into counter protesters, killing one woman and hospitalizing 19 others, as violence erupted at a rally where thousands of white nationalists gathered for an alt-right event in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday. Police said a total of 35 people were treated for injuries
Witnesses said the car was traveling up to 40 miles an hour when it hit and reversed before ramming into the crowd again and speeding off with someone’s shoe attached to its bumper
The alleged driver of the car was apprehended and is currently in police custody. He was arrested a few blocks away from the bloody scene. The suspect’s name has not yet been released. Pictured: The car that allegedly ran into several people
A counter protester had allegedly thrown a rock at the car, causing the driver to swivel around and accelerate into people and two cars in its way, before driving away from the scene
Rescue personnel help an injured woman after a car ran into a large group of counter protesters. There were several hundred people marching in a long line when the car drove into a group of them
Rescue personnel help an injured man after the car drove into a large group of protesters after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville
Local police reported there were multiple injures and three vehicles were involved in the crash. Pictured: The two vehicles that were rammed into by a Dodge Challenger
