A US white supremacist who drove his car at a crowd of anti-racism protesters, killing a woman and injuring dozens of other people, has been jailed for life.
James Alex Fields Jr, a self-declared neo-Nazi, was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to hate crime charges following the attack during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old civil rights activist, was killed and more than two dozen other people were hurt when Fields drove into the crowd in August 2017.
The Unite The Right rally in 2017 had drawn hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest against the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee.
The case stirred racial tensions around the US, with President Donald Trump heavily criticised for saying there were "fine people on both sides" of the dispute between neo-Nazis and their opponents at the rally.
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Before the judge handed down his sentence, Fields, 22, told the court: "I apologise for the hurt and loss I've caused.
"Every day I think about how things could have gone differently and how I regret my actions. I'm sorry."
More from Charlottesville
More than a dozen survivors and witnesses of the attack delivered emotional testimony about the physical and psychological wounds they had received as a result of the events that day.
Ms Heyer's mother Susan Bro said she was "deeply wounded" but hoped her daughter's killer "can heal someday and help others heal", while father Mark Heyer said he would "never fully recover".
Meanwhile, Rosia Parker – who was stood near Ms Heyer when she was stuck by the car – told Fields: "You deserve everything that you get."
The defendant appeared stoic in court and stared straight ahead without looking at any of the survivors or witnesses.
The court heard Fields had a long history of racist and antisemitic behaviour and had shown no remorse for his crimes.
Prosecutors said he was an avowed white supremacist, admired Adolf Hitler and even kept a picture of the Nazi leader on his bedside table.
FBI special agent Wade Douthit told the court that Fields "was like a kid at Disney World" during a high school trip to the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.
Less than a month before his deadly attack, Fields posted an image on Instagram which showed a car plowing through a crowd of people, with the caption: "You have the right to protest but I'm late for work."
Sky News
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