By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-denies-bond-suspect-charlottesville-attack-white-nationalist-rally Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Judge denies bond for suspect in Charlottesville attack at white nationalist rally Politics Aug 14, 2017 11:46 AM EDT An Ohio man accused of driving his vehicle into a crowd of counter-protesters in Virginia has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman at a white nationalist rally Saturday. Police say the crash injured 19 others outside of the rally, which protested the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from park in Charlottesville, Virginia. Lee was a Confederate general who supported slavery. Judge Robert Downer also denied bond Monday for James Alex Fields Jr., 20, who appeared in court via video from jail. Downer said Fields was being held on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of Heather Heyer, 32, and faces additional charges of malicious wounding and failure to stop in an accident that lead to a death. The judge appointed an attorney for Fields, who was seen wearing a black-and-white striped jumpsuit. A man who said he was a teacher of Fields in Kentucky told the Washington Post that Fields had white supremacist views and “had this fascination with Nazism and a big idolatry of Adolf Hitler.” Hours after the car attack, President Donald Trump condemned bigotry in broad terms, saying that he condemned “this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” But Trump drew criticism for not more directly condemning white nationalists after the Charlottesville incident. Mayor Michael Signer told the NewsHour on Sunday that the president was culpable in the violence. Mayor Michael Signer told The NewsHour’s P.J. Tobia the president’s rhetoric had a hand in the kind of bigotry seen Saturday. The next hearing for Fields is scheduled for Aug. 25, but a bond hearing could be held before then, CNN reported. Of the 19 injured in Saturday’s crash, nine have since been released from the hospital. Beyond the death in the crash, clashes between white nationalists and counter protesters led to additional injuries. Two Virginia State Police troopers also died in a helicopter crash while monitoring the clashes in Charlottesville on Saturday. Officials have yet to determine a cause for the crash. READ MORE: Kentucky mayor says he wants to move two Confederate statues By — Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas Joshua Barajas is a senior editor for the PBS NewsHour's Communities Initiative. He also the senior editor and manager of newsletters. @Josh_Barrage
An Ohio man accused of driving his vehicle into a crowd of counter-protesters in Virginia has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman at a white nationalist rally Saturday. Police say the crash injured 19 others outside of the rally, which protested the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from park in Charlottesville, Virginia. Lee was a Confederate general who supported slavery. Judge Robert Downer also denied bond Monday for James Alex Fields Jr., 20, who appeared in court via video from jail. Downer said Fields was being held on suspicion of second-degree murder in the death of Heather Heyer, 32, and faces additional charges of malicious wounding and failure to stop in an accident that lead to a death. The judge appointed an attorney for Fields, who was seen wearing a black-and-white striped jumpsuit. A man who said he was a teacher of Fields in Kentucky told the Washington Post that Fields had white supremacist views and “had this fascination with Nazism and a big idolatry of Adolf Hitler.” Hours after the car attack, President Donald Trump condemned bigotry in broad terms, saying that he condemned “this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” But Trump drew criticism for not more directly condemning white nationalists after the Charlottesville incident. Mayor Michael Signer told the NewsHour on Sunday that the president was culpable in the violence. Mayor Michael Signer told The NewsHour’s P.J. Tobia the president’s rhetoric had a hand in the kind of bigotry seen Saturday. The next hearing for Fields is scheduled for Aug. 25, but a bond hearing could be held before then, CNN reported. Of the 19 injured in Saturday’s crash, nine have since been released from the hospital. Beyond the death in the crash, clashes between white nationalists and counter protesters led to additional injuries. Two Virginia State Police troopers also died in a helicopter crash while monitoring the clashes in Charlottesville on Saturday. Officials have yet to determine a cause for the crash. READ MORE: Kentucky mayor says he wants to move two Confederate statues