Charlottesville Suspect Attended Rally With White Supremacists, Photo Shows

The Ohio man accused of plowing a car into a group of anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday had been photographed holding a shield bearing a white supremacist emblem just hours before the deadly attack.

James Alex Fields Jr., 20, was snapped standing among members of the self-proclaimed fascist group Vanguard America, while wearing a matching white polo. In his hands, he held up a Vanguard America shield.

James Alex Fields was w/ the Vanguard America folks in #Charlottesville. Learn more about the group > https://t.co/HNloF8Btnf @ADL_National pic.twitter.com/TmJLi0kfZo

Oren Segal (@orensegal) August 13, 2017","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Oren Segal","author_url":"https://twitter.com/orensegal","cache_age":86400,"description":"James Alex Fields was w/ the Vanguard America folks in #Charlottesville. 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James Alex Fields was w/ the Vanguard America folks in #Charlottesville . Learn more about the group > https://t.co/HNloF8Btnf @ADL_National pic.twitter.com/TmJLi0kfZo
Oren Segal (@orensegal) August 13, 2017

Police say Fields later drove a car into a crowd of people demonstrating against the white supremacists who came to Charlottesville for a Unite the Right rally. A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others injured in the car attack.

Vanguard America attempted to distance itself from Fields in a statement shared on Twitter late Saturday night. It said Fields was in no way, a member of Vanguard America. The group said its shields were handed out to anyone attending the rally.

Fields mother, speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, said she knew her son was attending a rally but expressed surprise that it was for white supremacists.