Neo-Nazi Who Killed A Woman After Driving Into Anti-Racism Protesters Jailed For Life

James Alex Fields Junior drove his car into the crowd during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, killing Heather Heyer, 32.

A white supremacist who killed a woman after driving into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville has been sentenced to life behind bars.

James Alex Fields Jr of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty in March to US federal hate crime charges in an attack that killed 32-year-old activist Heather Heyer and injured 28 others.

He will be sentenced next month on separate state charges.

Fields apologised before the judge handed down his sentence.

The Unite The Right rally on August 12 2017, drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Fields admitted deliberately driving his car into counter-protesters who showed up to demonstrate against the white nationalists.

The case stirred racial tensions around the US.