A jury has ended the deliberations they began this morning in the trial of neo-Nazi James Fields, who murdered Heather Heyer when he drove his car into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, back in August 2017. Fields has been found guilty of first degree murder in the attack, which claimed Heyer’s life and seriously hurt 35 others.
Fields’s conviction followed six days of testimony in Charlottesville Circuit Court, where Heyer’s deadly injuries were detailed and survivors of the crash described the chaos and their own injuries. Jeanne Peterson, 38, who limped to the witness stand with the help of bailiffs, said she’d had five surgeries and would have another next year. Wednesday Bowie, a counterprotester in her 20s, said her pelvis was broken in six places. Marcus Martin described pushing his then-fiancee out of the Challenger’s path before he was struck.
Fields’ attempts at pleading self defense not only rang false during the trial, they were routinely undercut by his own actions. Actions like telling his mother that “It doesn’t fucking matter” that Heather Heyer died as a result of his actions. James Fields is trash. His thoughts are trash, his actions are trash. The people that have had what passes for friendly contact with him are also trash people.
Rest in power, Heather Heyer.