Charge upgraded against suspect in Charlottesville rally killing
By Kaylee Hartung and Darran Simon, CNN
Updated
7:00 AM EST, Fri December 15, 2017
(CNN) —
The Dodge Challenger crept up, reversed, then accelerated toward the crowd. As he watched a surveillance video of that moment – the car barreling toward people protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last summer – Marcus Martin grew angry and cursed out loud.
“Take me out,” Martin yelled during a hearing in Charlottesville on Thursday for James Alex Fields Jr., the man who prosecutors say drove the Challenger. Martin, who was injured as he pushed his fiancée out of the car’s path, stormed out the courtroom.
Prosecutors say Fields killed Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old Charlottesville paralegal, and injured others who were demonstrating against the “Unite the Right” rally. The event drew white nationalists and other far right organizations who opposed the city’s decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park.
Fields, who initially was charged with second-degree murder and other offenses, now faces a charge of first-degree murder. A Charlottesville district court Judge announced the upgraded charge at the court hearing attended by Fields and about two dozen of Heyer’s family members and supporters.
Prosecutors played the surveillance video from a Charlottesville restaurant in addition to a video from a Virginia State Police helicopter monitoring the events.
Authorities say the footage captures Fields’ Challenger stopping about a block and a half away from protesters, reversing, then driving into the crowd and speeding away in reverse. Fields was apprehended about four minutes after the collision, about a mile away.
Fields could not be seen driving the car in either video, but the aerial shot showed Fields getting out of the car and on the ground after the collision.
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
People fly into the air as a vehicle drives into a group of people demonstrating against a white nationalist rally after police cleared Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, August 12.
PHOTO:
Ryan M. Kelly/The Daily Progress via AP
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
The vehicle moments before it struck the crowd.
PHOTO:
Ryan M. Kelly/The Daily Progress/AP
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
A woman receives first aid after a speeding car slammed into this silver convertible as it navigated through a crowd of counterprotesters.
PHOTO:
PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
A man embraces an injured woman after a car rammed into the crowd.
PHOTO:
Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
Right-wing rally members clash with counterprotesters in Emancipation Park, where white nationalist groups gathered for a rally.
PHOTO:
Go Nakamura/ZUMA Press
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
A counterprotester strikes a white nationalist with a baton during clashes at Emancipation Park, where white nationalists are protesting the removal of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee monument.
PHOTO:
Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
A counterprotester throws a newspaper box at a right-wing rally member at the entrance to Emancipation Park.
PHOTO:
Steve Helber/AP
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
A counterprotester uses a lighted spray can against a white nationalist at the entrance to Emancipation Park.
PHOTO:
Steve Helber/AP
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
Counterprotesters try to burn a Confederate battle flag taken from white nationalist protesters.
PHOTO:
Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the "alt-right" clash with counterprotesters.
PHOTO:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
A white nationalist is seen with a cut below his eye suffered during clashes with counterprotesters at Emancipation Park .
PHOTO:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the alt-right movement exchange volleys of pepper spray with counterprotesters as they enter Emancipation Park.
PHOTO:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
A woman is treated for exposure to pepper spray during clashes between white nationalists and counterprotesters at Emancipation Park.
PHOTO:
Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
White nationalists use shields as they guard the entrance to Emancipation Park.
PHOTO:
Steve Helber/AP
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
Counterprotesters line the route taken by white nationalists and neo-Nazis during the "Unite the Right" rally. After clashes with anti-fascist protesters and police, the rally was declared an unlawful gathering and people were forced out of Emancipation Park, formerly called Lee Park and home to a controversial statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
PHOTO:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
White nationalist Richard Spencer and his supporters clash with Virginia State Police in Emancipation Park.
PHOTO:
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Photos: Violence erupts at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia
Riot police form a line of defense in front of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Emancipation Park, recently renamed from Lee Park.
PHOTO:
Go Nakamura/ZUMA Press
Charlottesville Det. Steven Young, a prosecution witness, testified he was patrolling Emancipation Park on foot when he heard the radio traffic reporting an incident near Fourth and Water streets that day. He and three other officers jumped into a van and responded to the location where the Challenger had stopped.
Young said he arrived on the scene shortly after police pulled the Challenger over. By then, Fields was already on the ground in handcuffs, Young said.
The detective said he saw blood and flesh on the front of the car. The front fender was torn off and the windshield was cracked, Young said.
People had tried to stop Fields from driving away, creating two holes in the back window, said Young, who is investigating the case.
Young said he knows of 36 victims including Heyer.
Fields’ attorney, Denise Lunsford, tried to paint her client as a sympathetic character as she cross-examined Young. The detective acknowledged that Fields said, “I’m sorry” several times and asked if people were okay after he was apprehended.
Fields was shocked, and cried and sobbed, when he later learned of the fatality, Young said.
Young said Fields told others he went to Charlottesville by himself and wanted to hear a speaker at the rally.
Exclusive photographs obtained by CNN appear to show Fields marching alongside neo-Nazis and other white supremacists at the rally in Charlottesville.
Fields’ wrists and feet were shackled during the hearing. He sat not far from Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro.
Heyer’s favorite color was purple, and two women in the courtroom room wore purple shirts emblazoned with Heyer’s photo. On the shirts was an anonymous quote Heyer believed in, and once posted on Facebook: “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.”
Fields’ case will go before a grand jury on Monday.
CNN’s Matthew Hoye, Eric Levenson and Amanda Watts contributed reporting.
