White Supremacist Begs Judge Not To Jail Him For Killing

Under a plea deal, federal prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty against Fields and the charges he pleaded guilty to call for life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

A white supremacist who drove into counter demonstrators opposing a nationalist rally in Charlottesville has asked for a judge to show mercy on him. James Alex Fields Jr, 22, killed one person and left 19 injured when he deliberately ploughed into the protest on August 12, 2017. He pleaded guilty to hate crimes in March and will be sentenced this week, but his lawyers have asked the judge to give him a sentence shorter than life. 

They cited Fields’ age, ‘traumatic’ childhood, and history of mental illness as reasons why he should not spend his life behind bars. He was raised by a paraplegic single mother and grew up knowing his Jewish grandfather had murdered his grandmother before committing suicide, his lawyers said.

The attorneys wrote: ‘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.’ They said that it would be an ‘expression of mercy’ from the judge, and a ‘conviction that no individual is wholly defined by their worst moments’.

Heather Heyer, 32, a legal assistant and anti-racism campaigner, had been protesting the white nationalist event when Fields killed her with his car. Prosecutors countered Fields’ request by stating that avowed anti-Semite and Nazi admirer had shown ‘no remorse’ since the attack. They said the defendant deserved a life sentence for his actions, adding that would help deter others from committing ‘similar acts of domestic terrorism’.

The prosecutors also focused on years of documented racist and anti-Semitic behavior by Fields, which they said included keeping a picture of Adolf Hitler on his bedside table. They also said in court documents that he was recorded on a jail phone call making disparaging remarks about Ms Heyer’s mother as recently as last month.

Prosecutors they said that while Fields has a history of mental illness issues, it doesn’t excuse his behaviour in a way that would require a lenient sentence. They wrote: ‘Any mental health concerns raised by the defendant do not overcome the defendant’s demonstrated lack of remorse and his prior history of substantial racial animus.’ The duelling memos were filed last week as the federal sentencing looms on Friday, June 28.