Heather Heyer Virginia paralegal named as James Alex Fields protest victim who was run over as a Unite the Right protester purposefully ran over counter protesters.
Heather Heyer a 32 year old Virginia woman has been identified as the individual who was fatally mowed down at the hands of right wing zealot, James Alex Fields.
At the time of her death, Heyer a local paralegal, was protesting a hate fueled white supremacist march in Charlottesville on Saturday when James Alex Fields Jr, of Maumee, Ohio, allegedly plowed his vehicle into the crowd, killing her and injuring 19 others.
Fields Jr, 20, who is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, was charged with second-degree murder reported the dailybeast.
Fields was also booked on suspicion of malicious wounding, failure to stop for an accident involving a death, and hit and run. Fields is being held without bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.
‘She died doing what was right. My heart is broken, but I am forever proud of her,’ Heyer’s mother, who has not been named, wrote on a GoFundMe Page set up for the family.
Video of car hitting anti-racist protestors. Let there be no confusion: this was deliberate terrorism. My prayers with victims. Stay home. pic.twitter.com/MUOZs71Pf4
— Brennan Gilmore (@brennanmgilmore) August 12, 2017
Oh my god. This image from #Charlottesville. https://t.co/lBiTQvwnex pic.twitter.com/123XmE6I7E
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) August 12, 2017
Heather Heyer, a paralegal with the Miller Law Group PC in Virginia, according to the charity fund drive page was a native of Greene County and had graduated from William Monroe High School.
The woman’s social media posts revealed her being passionate about social justice, with her final public Facebook post, dated from 2016, reading: ‘If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.’
Of note, Heyers was also a Bernie Sanders supporter.
Wrote Heyer’s friend, Felicia Correa, on the victim’s GoFundme page, ‘she was murdered while protesting against hate.’
Adding, ‘She will truly be missed’.
Friends and family of Heyer are asking anyone who knew her to stand outside their homes at 10 EST Sunday with lit candles in a show of opposition against racism and fascism in her memory. Others on Twitter have pledged to ‘keep fighting’ against fascism and racism in Heyer’s memory.
Memorials are being held in cities across America for Heyer and those injured at the protest.
A candlelight vigil at the White House is scheduled for 8.30pm, and a Vigil for Justice will be held a few hours prior to that at the World War II Memorial at the National Mall. Rallies, vigils and other events are also being held across Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Denver, New York City and Chicago.
Charlottesville Police Chief Alfred Thomas Jr. said Heyer was killed while crossing the street after Fields Jr plowed his Dodge Challenger into the protesters.
Despite efforts to revive her, Heyer died.
Video of the Dodge Challenger, which is registered to 20 year old Fields, showed the Republican registered voter accelerating into the crowd throwing bodies into the air as people scream before reversing at high speed.
While some countered that a ‘terrified’ Fields was simply fleeing ‘aggressive counter protesters’, video seemed to show if anything Fields purposefully speeding towards a group of fleeing anti-fascist protesters in a bid to inflict lethal damage.
Told the victim’s mother, Susan Bro, via HuffPost, ‘she was about bringing an end to injustice.’
Adding, ‘I want her death to be a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion.’
Along with Fields’ arrest, three additional arrests were made in relation to the ‘Unite the white’ rally; Troy Dunigan, 21, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, arrested and charged with disorderly conduct; Jacob L. Smith, 21, of Louisa, Virginia, arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, and James M. O’Brien, 44, of Gainesville, Florida, arrested and charged with carrying a concealed handgun reported the dailymail.
The deadly crash came after violent clashes erupted as hundreds of white supremacists including armed militias marched into Charlottesville sparking violent confrontations with counter-protesters.
Police cleared the scene with tear gas but the violence continued. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said a total of 35 people had been treated for injuries, 14 of those were from individual engagements on the streets.
I think we know what side James Alex Fields Jr is on pic.twitter.com/IQeR4sVApl
— GandUlf Samuelsson (@LorenzoMeow) August 13, 2017
In the aftermath of the tragedy, photos emerged showing Fields marching with a racist, right-wing group known as Vanguard America.
The white supremacist group opposes multiculturalism and believes America is an exclusively white nation.
Vanguard America has released a statement claiming that Fields was not an official member.
It said: ‘The driver of the vehicle that hit counter protesters today was, in no way, a member of Vanguard America. All our members had been safely evacuated by the time of the incident. The shields seen do not denote membership, nor does the white shirt. The shields were freely handed out to anyone in attendance, All our members are safe and accounted for, with no arrests or charges.’
This is the car that plowed through a crowd at the #UniteTheRight rally. Stopped along Monticello Ave. pic.twitter.com/7Uf4lHfAf9
— Dean Seal (@JDeanSeal) August 12, 2017
Reacting to Saturday’s violence, Virginia Gov Terry McAuliffe strongly condemned all of the so-called ‘patriotic’ white nationalists.
‘Go home. You are not wanted in this great commonwealth,’ McAuliffe proclaimed in a Saturday night press release. ‘You are not patriots. You came here today to hurt people and that is not patriotic’.
President Donald Trump admonished the day’s tragic events, saying in a press conference: ‘We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, violence, on many sides… The hate and division must stop, and must stop right now.’
Nevertheless the commander in chief, perhaps in a bid not to offend white nativists who appear to make his base declined to specifically call into account the behavior of the white nativist protesters who had initiated violence.
Extolled, Republican strategist Ana Navarro: ‘This is not ‘many sides’. It’s White Supremacist Terrorism. The President of the United States does not have the spine to say so. Shameful.’
As of Sunday afternoon, around $110,000 had been been pledged to a GoFundMe campaign in Heyer’s honor.
Welcome to a brave new America….
Ana Navarro detonates on Trump: ‘He doesn’t have the spine or the guts to call out white supremacists’ https://t.co/fx7x2uFHof pic.twitter.com/fK1qKdxbhu
— Artzthings ©️♎ (@Artzthings) August 13, 2017
Governor Terry McAuliffe beautifully and POWERFULLY delivers the speech Donald trump was incapable or unwilling to deliver #Charlottesville
— (((DuneMyThang™))) (@Kris_Sacrebleu) August 12, 2017
The acts and rhetoric in #Charlottesville over past 24 hours are unacceptable & must stop. A right to speech is not a right to violence.
— Terry McAuliffe (@GovernorVA) August 12, 2017