On Thursday morning, I stepped into the courtroom of Charlottesville's Judge Richard E. Moore and witnessed the first actual day of trial for James Alex Fields Jr, the man who drove his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of anti-racist counter-protesters to the white supremacist rally he had driven from Ohio to attend in August 2017. Fields is responsible for the serious injury of many and the killing of Heather Heyer, 32, in this fairly progressive college town in central Virginia. His defense admitted as much, stating in their opening statement that "they will not contest much of the testimony of the witnesses" brought to court by government prosecutors, but rather this trial is about why his client felt he had no choice but to accelerate into a large group gathered near the intersection of 4th and Water Streets in downtown Charlottesville. Fields sat emotionless at the defense table in a navy sweater over a collared shirt, a layer of stubble on his face. He also wore dark...
Washington, D.C. area's true left wing blog. Pete Perry, an anti-war radical dedicated to nonviolence shares his thoughts and experiences.