Charlottesville suspect 'idolised Hitler' and had been accused of beating mother, court hears

James Alex Fields Jr was fascinated with Nazism, idolised Adolf Hitler, and had been singled out at school by officials at the Randall K Cooper high school in Union, Kentucky, for his "deeply held, radical" convictions on race, his former high school teacher Derek Weimer said.

The driver charged with killing a woman at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville was previously accused of beating his mother and threatening her with a knife, according to police records.

Authorities say 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters on Saturday in Charlottesville, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.