This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A jury has begun deliberating in the murder trial of an Ohio man accused of intentionally driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally, killing one woman and injuring dozens.

Charlottesville trial: prosecutors say driver had hate on his mind Read more

A prosecutor told jurors in closing arguments on Thursday that 21-year-old James Alex Fields Jr had hate and violence on his mind when he plunged the car into the crowd. Defense attorneys argued Fields had plowed into the crowd out of fear.

The jury, which consists of seven women and five men, got the case on Friday morning.

Fields is charged with first-degree murder and other felonies for the August 2017 crash that killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Her death came after police forced a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville to disband after participants had clashed with counter-demonstrators earlier.

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In closing arguments Thursday, a prosecutor reminded jurors about a text message sent by Fields the day before the rally that included an image of Adolf Hitler, and a meme he posted on Instagram showing bodies tossed into the air after a car plows into a crowd identified as “protesters”.

But the defense attorney stressed the chaos of the day, when street fights broke out between white nationalists and counter-protesters and tear gas was used. She said Fields had urine thrown at him, had been yelled at, and saw a large crowd down the street surrounding two other cars and feared he would be attacked.

Fields also faces lesser charges of manslaughter and unlawful wounding for the injuries he caused to other victims.