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Ohio Man Charged In White Nationalist Rally To Argue Self-Defense

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) – An Ohio man charged with killing a woman during a white nationalist rally in Virginia plans to argue that he believed he was acting in self-defense when he drove his car into a crowd of counter protesters.

This photo provided by the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail shows James Alex Fields Jr., who was charged with second-degree murder and other counts after authorities say he rammed his car into a crowd of protesters Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va., where a white supremacist rally took place. (Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail via AP)

A lawyer for James Alex Fields Jr. offered a glimpse of the defense strategy as jury selection began Monday in Charlottesville Circuit Court.

Attorney John Hill told a group of prospective jurors the jury will hear evidence that Fields “thought he was acting in self-defense.”

Hill asked if any of the prospective jurors believe that using violence in self-defense is never appropriate.

The “Unite the Right” rally on Aug. 12, 2017, was organized in part to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.