Killer of Heather Heyer pleads guilty to hate crimes tied to Virginia riot
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., March 27 (Reuters) - Self-described neo-Nazi James Fields, who was convicted of killing Heather Heyer by ramming his car into a crowd protesting a white supremacist rally in a Virginia college town in 2017, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in his federal hate crimes case.
Fields, 21, pleaded guilty to 28 federal counts of hate crime acts causing bodily injury and involving an attempt to kill, and one count of a hate crime act that resulted in the death of Heyer during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Under the plea agreement, U.S. prosecutors said they will not seek the death penalty.
“In the aftermath of the mass murder in New Zealand earlier this month, we are reminded that a diverse and pluralistic community such as ours can have zero tolerance for violence on the basis of race, religion, or association with people of other races and religions,” U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a statement released by the Department of Justice.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/killer-of-heather-heyer-pleads-guilty-to-hate-crimes-tied-to-virginia-riot/ar-BBViXEP?li=BBnbcA1