Man convicted in Charlottesville attack asks for "mercy"

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Alan Suderman, Associated Press Updated 1:53 pm CDT, Saturday, June 22, 2019



Photo: AP
FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail shows James
Alex Fields Jr. A sentencing hearing has been moved up for the self-avowed white supremacist
convicted of federal hate crimes for plowing his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters at a 2017
white nationalist rally in Virginia. Fields was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 3, 2019. A
notice filed in court says the hearing has been moved to June 28. (Albemarle-Charlottesville
Regional Jail via AP, File)


RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Adolf Hitler admirer who plowed his car through a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally in Virginia two years ago, killing one person and injuring dozens, has asked a judge to show mercy and sentence him to a prison term shorter than a life sentence.

Lawyers for James Alex Fields Jr., 22, said in a sentencing memo submitted in court documents Friday that he should not spend his entire life in prison because of his age, a traumatic childhood and a history of mental illness.

"No amount of punishment imposed on James can repair the damage he caused to dozens of innocent people. But this Court should find that retribution has limits," his attorneys wrote.

But prosecutors countered that the avowed anti-Semite has shown no remorse since he drove the car on on Aug. 12, 2017 into anti-racism activist Heather Heyer, killing her, and injuring the others protesting against the white nationalists.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Man-convicted-in-Charlottesville-attack-asks-for-14030379.php

[Aristus]

1. Show him as much mercy as he showed to Heather Heyer.

n/t

[Sherman A1]

3. That Seems entirely reasonable to me

[kag]

8. My thoughts, exactly.

Don't want to spend your life in prison? Don't fucking murder people!

[dalton99a]

19. +1

[RainCaster]

2. No mercy, just thoughts and prayers

[FakeNoose]

25. That's the ticket

[JDC]

4. Fuck him. He should be in jail for life, no chance of parole

His privileges in this society are permanently revoked.

[procon]

5. Um... No. Go directly to jail and do not

collect $200. Thank you for playing.

He should have added 'stupid' to his list of excuses.

[BeyondGeography]

6. I don't think so

[MineralMan]

7. What mercy did you show, Dipshit?

[EarthFirst]

9. GFYS

This fucker gets nowhere near the justice my seething animosity would administer...

[catbyte]

10. You have GOT to be kidding me.

[33taw]

11. What was his traumatic childhood event(s)?

[Dave Starsky]

16. An African-American kid at his elementary school got Food Stamps.

Poor little dude found out and never got over it.

[33taw]

26. I just wondered what makes creeps like this who they are.

He belongs in prison or an institution the rest of his life.

[Everyman Jackal]

12. Retribution has limits.

The limit for murder is life in prison.

[Zambero]

13. No mercy, no parole

He is a menace to society and needs to be incarcerated for life.

[RockRaven]

14. F--k this guy. Vengeance aside, this guy is a menace, and must be kept apart from civilized people.

It is a public safety issue. Lock him up without any promise of getting out.

Some day in the distant future, in the unlikely event he definitely ceases to be a menace, his sentence can always be shortened via commutation. But in the event he remains unchanged or becomes more dangerous, which is possible-to-likely, his sentence cannot be extended. The time for leniency is in a hypothetical future, not right now.

[Solly Mack]

15. Snort

[paleotn]

17. Ummm...

NO!

[GemDigger]

18. No mercy. None!

[we can do it]

20. No.

[Gore1FL]

21. I guess it never hurts to ask... nt

[Progressive Jones]

37. His lawyers are merely doing the job they are being paid to do but, no.

He mustdie behind bars.

[aikoaiko]

22. Life without parole is mercy....

...you dumbass murdering motherfucker.

[B Stieg]

23. He should have thought of this while he was sitting there

revving his engine right before he plowed into the crowd. It's a pretty chilling tape.

[Turbineguy]

24. OK.

Fak ya!

[mr_lebowski]

28. Dude easily could've killed 10 people or more ... I'm sorry I don't care how F'D your childhood was

And if you were not guilty by reason of insanity, you'd have plead to that effect, but you didn't.

'Being a Nazi' is not a recognized mental illness ... though, admittedly, perhaps it should be, in which case you and everyone like you should be rounded up and sent to mental hospital, but too bad for you that isn't presently the case.

Sucks to be you. Sucked much worse to be Heather Heyer.

Bye

[democratisphere]

29. NEIN. NEIN. NEIN. NEIN. UND NEIN.

SEHR GUT!

[MurrayDelph]

32. Ok, here's your mercy alternative:

Instead of life, you get 99 years, but parole only possible if you get Heather Heyer to personally intercede on your behalf.

[JesterCS]

33. I have two letters for him

F and O.

[Cryptoad]

34. Hows abt,,,,,,,

70 years without parole in sollitary confinement. ????? Thats better than life without parole letting him preach his hate to others til he dies.....

[amb123]

35. He should be hanged

like any other Nazi War Criminal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_trials

[christx30]

36. Being that the prosecutor has already said

they’re not going for the Death Penalty, I think mercy has been shown already. This little prick needs to be grateful he’ll reach a nice old age, unlike the woman he murdered.

[shanti]

38. He'll get life

And within a year, he'll have several Nazi tatts.

[Eugene]

39. If he wants mercy, he will have to earn it. He hasn't even started.

He is still an unrepentant Nazi who took a human life. Unless he changes sincerely and fundamentally, he belongs in a cage.

[Bengus81]

40. Candy ass NAZI begging for mercy.............

Aw shucks,he had a lousy up bringing--as if that's some ticket to murder and then a lighter sentence. This is no surprise,just your usual Trump lovin' snowflake once the shit hits the fan.