Prosecutors seek life sentence for Charlottesville car attacker

James Alex Fields Jr., a self-avowed white supremacist was convicted of federal hate crimes for plowing his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia To federal prosecutors, James Alex Fields Jr. is a callous, hate-filled young man who saw a group of people protesting against white nationalists and decided to kill them. A federal judge will decide Friday whether Fields should get life in prison or a sentence of something less than that for killing one anti-racism protester and injuring dozens more in 2017 when he deliberately drove his car into the crowd that had gathered to demonstrate against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The silver Dodge Charger driven by James Alex Fields Jr. moments after driving into a crowd of counter-protesters on Water Street on August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heather Heyer, 32 years old, was killed and 19 others injured when they were struck by Fields' car People were sent flying into the air as the vehicle driven by Fields Jr. struck protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville But in a sentencing memo filed in court last week, Fields' lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski to consider sentencing Fields to a period 'less than life.'