Accused Virginia Rally Attacker Is Northern Kentucky Native

By Mike Perleberg Counter protesters are plowed by a car allegedly driven by James Alex Fields, Jr. at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, August 12. Photo by The Daily Progressive. (Union, Ky.) - The attacker at the center of the violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday is a Boone County native. James Alex Fields, Jr. is in jail accused of driving a Dodge Challenger at a high-rate of speed into a crowd of counter protestors. The attack killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer and left 19 others injured. Two Virginia state troopers also died Saturday in a helicopter crash near the scene of the violence. We’re now learning more about Fields, who had attended Cooper High School in Union. Teachers there are recalling Fields as a neo-Nazi and an avowed racist. On teacher recounted Fields describing a "white supremacist state" had the Allies lost World War II. James Alex Fields, Jr. The 20-year-old had recently moved with his mother, Samantha Bloom, from Boone County to Maumee, Ohio. Bloom says she thought her son was at a Donald Trump rally and insists she had no idea her son was attending a white supremacist demonstration. Fields is facing charges in Virginia of second-degree murder, malicious wounding, and failure to stop after an accident. He is due to be arraigned in court on Monday. Southeastern Indiana residents held a vigil for the victims of the Charlottesville attack. Local Democrats and others worried about the events in Virginia gathered at the Dearborn County Courthouse in Lawrenceburg on Sunday for a candlelight vigil. Lane Siekman, a Democratic candidate for Indiana’s 6th Congressional District seat, was among the roughly three dozen people in attendance. A group of area residents held a vigil for the victims of the Virginia attack at the Dearborn County Courthouse on Sunday, August 13. Photo by Tricia Gaustad.