James Alex Fields Sentenced to Life Plus 419 Years for Charlottesville Murder

James Alex Fields Jr., the white supremacist who murdered Heather Heyer at the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, received a federal life sentence on June 28, 2019 for hate crimes, followed by a second life sentence plus 419 years from Virginia state courts on July 15, 2019. The combined sentences ensure Fields will spend the rest of his life in prison for what judges called an act of domestic terrorism.

Federal Sentencing (June 28, 2019)

Fields pleaded guilty to 29 violations of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. During his plea hearing, he admitted he “drove into the crowd of counter-protestors because of the actual and perceived race, color, national origin, and religion of its members” and “intended to kill the other victims he struck and injured with his car.”

The federal court sentenced him to life imprisonment for the hate crime murder of Heather Heyer. Evidence presented at sentencing revealed Fields had used social media to promote white supremacist ideology and express support for Nazi-era policies, including posting a meme three months before the attack showing a car plowing into protesters.

State Sentencing (July 15, 2019)

Virginia Circuit Judge Richard Moore imposed a second life sentence plus 419 years for Fields’ state convictions of first-degree murder and nine counts of malicious wounding. The sentence breakdown included:

• Life in prison and $100,000 fine for first-degree murder
• 70 years and $70,000 fine for each of five aggravated malicious wounding charges
• 20 years and $10,000 fine for each of three malicious wounding convictions
• 9 years for the hit-and-run conviction

Judge Moore explicitly called Fields’ actions “an act of terrorism,” telling the defendant: “You have expressed yourself as a white supremacist, Mr. Fields. You made the wrong one.” The state sentence is to be served consecutively with the federal punishment.

Victim Impact Statements

Marcus Martin, who suffered a broken leg pushing his fiancée out of the path of Fields’ car, confronted Fields directly in court: “You don’t deserve to be on this earth.” April Muniz described lasting mental scars from witnessing the attack, including job loss and inability to experience happiness.

Susan Bro, mother of murdered activist Heather Heyer, observed that Fields showed no remorse during sentencing. Unlike his federal sentencing, no alt-right figures attended the state hearing to support Fields, and his own mother was absent.

Trump’s Silence

President Trump never condemned Fields’ attack or apologized for his “very fine people on both sides” remarks that equated white supremacists with anti-racism protesters. His administration’s refusal to acknowledge the severity of white nationalist domestic terrorism contributed to the growing threat of far-right extremism that would culminate in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.

The Charlottesville attack and Fields’ prosecution became a watershed moment in American jurisprudence’s treatment of white supremacist violence as domestic terrorism, though critics noted the disparate treatment compared to cases involving defendants of color or left-wing activists.