The man who drove the car, James Alex Fields Jr., has been charged with second-degree murder, meaning it was in some form premeditated, said Patrick Oliver, associate professor of criminal justice at Cedarville University. It means Fields could serve up to 10 or 20 years in prison if convicted, Oliver said.
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It’s too early to tell exactly what the weekend incidents in Virginia will lead to, but there will likely be some “real and quick repercussions,” that could include copycat attacks, said Glenn Duerr, an associate professor of international relations at Cedarville University.
“There are various areas of potential flash-points where we could see more protests and counter-protests,” Duerr told this news organization.
The rally and violence in Charlottesville seems like something of a “bygone era,” Duerr said. In that way its both a surprise and a reminder of just how prevalent hate is, Duerr said.
Duerr said the killing of the counter-protester checks “most of the boxes” of being considered domestic terrorism. National leaders, including President Donald Trump, Duerr said, need to do more to disavow the hate of white nationalists to try to better prevent such violence in the future.
Trump was criticized over the weekend by both Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly denouncing hate groups when he spoke about the violence in Charlottesville. Today though, Trump spoke in Washington, D.C., where he said “racism is evil” specifically calling out the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis and other white supremacists.
“To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend’s racist violence, you will be held fully accountable,” Trump said. “Justice will be delivered.”
While Duerr suggested the attack could spur more attacks, he said it has the potential to also launch a second civil rights movement in America.
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Further responses to the attack will depend on what dominates the cycle of current events, Duerr said. He suggested that North Korea’s nuclear capabilities could easily steal the attention of public officials and leaders again soon.
While the attack will likely serve as a “stain on the shimmer of the United States,” it likely won’t serve as a potent example of domestic terrorism like 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
“It really does depend on what happens in the next little bit,” Duerr said. “As a terrorist attack, it will rank low, but given this connection to a wider narrative it could get put in a history book some day.”
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