Woman killed in Charlottesville, Virginia identified
32-year-old Heather Heyer killed after car crashes into crowd
The leader of a Ku Klux Klan group based in North Carolina said he was “glad” that a woman died and others were injured after a man allegedly drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters Saturday at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.
James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, has been charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wrongdoing and one count of failing to stop at an accident that resulted in death. Heather Heyer, 32, a Virginia paralegal, was killed in the incident and at least 19 other people were injured.
Justin Moore, the leader of the Grand Dragon for the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, told WBTV’s Steve Crump in a voicemail that he was “glad” Heyer was killed and others were injured in the vehicle attack.
"I'm sorta glad that them people got hit and I'm glad that girl died," Moore said. "They were a bunch of communists out there protesting against somebody's freedom of speech, so it doesn't bother me that they got hurt at all."
"I think we're going to see more stuff like this happening at white nationalist events," Moore added.
The KKK group is based in Pelham, N.C., and some members were in Charlottesville on the day of the protests.
"We were out there and I seen a lot of communist flags and anti-fascist and we're going to see more stuff like this," Moore said. "White people are getting fed up with the double-standard setup in America today by the controlled press."
"We should have been able to go out there and have our protest and it should have been peaceful but it's the anti-fascist and the communists continuing to try and stop us," Moore said. "So I think there will be more violence like this in the future to come."
Moore applauded Fields’ actions and called the suspect a “white patriot.”
"Nothing makes us more proud at the KKK than we see white patriots such as James Fields Jr., age 20, taking his car and running over nine communist anti-fascist, killing one [expletive] lover named Heather Heyer," Moore said in the voicemail. "James Fields hail victory. It's men like you that have made the great white race strong and will be strong again."
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe called Heyer brave and tweeted: “She died standing up against hate & bigotry. Her bravery should inspire all to come together.”
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On Saturday, white nationalists — including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members — descended on the city to rally against plans to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a city park. Hundreds of other people came out to protest against them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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