CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - A federal judge imposed a life sentence on the self-described neo-Nazi who killed Heather Heyer by crashing his car into a crowd of counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, after a white supremacist rally, saying release would be too great a risk.The 22-year-old neo-Nazi, James Fields of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
He had sought a lesser sentence, apologizing after the court viewed video of him plowing his car into a crowd after the Aug. 12, 2017, Unite the Right rally, also injuring 30 people.
Subsequent alt-right gatherings failed to draw crowds the size of the Charlottesville rally.
The FBIs most recent report on hate crimes, released in November, showed a 17% rise in 2017.
He was photographed hours before the attack carrying a shield with the emblem of a far-right hate group.