VIRGINIA: Jury Selection Begins For Killer Neo-Nazi

The Charlottesville Daily Progress reports:

More than a year after the Unite the Right rally culminated in a deadly car attack, the man charged with intentionally driving into a crowd of anti-racist protesters goes to trial Monday. James Alex Fields Jr., 21, a self-described neo-Nazi, is charged with first-degree murder and multiple counts of malicious wounding in the Aug. 12, 2017, car attack that killed counter-protester Heather Heyer and injured 35 others.

His trial in Charlottesville Circuit Court will begin with jury selection, a process that could last until mid-week. The pool of potential jurors totals 360 people, the largest in recent memory. A questionnaire was given to potential jurors last month, to help remove those with biases before voir dire begins Monday. The commonwealth has not yet revealed how many potential jurors were removed from the pool based on their responses to the questionnaire.

NBC News reports:



Fields was photographed hours before the attack with a shield bearing the emblem of Vanguard America, one of the hate groups that participated in the rally, although the group denied any association with him. Prosecutors played surveillance video that showed Fields’ Dodge Challenger head slowly in the direction of the counterprotesters, then move in reverse before speeding forward toward the counterprotesters.

Star Peterson, whose right leg was virtually crushed by Fields’ car, has had five surgeries and still uses a wheelchair and cane. She has been unable to return to work and has received help paying her rent and other bills from Heal Charlottesville, a fund set up to help the injured. Peterson said she’s been told by prosecutors that she’ll be called as a witness at Fields’ trial.