Mother of Charlottesville suspect: 'I just knew he was going to a rally ... I thought it had something to do with Trump'
— -- The mother of the man who allegedly plowed into a group of people protesting a white nationalist rally Saturday in Virginia said she knew her son was attending a rally -- but she thought it was a rally for President Trump, not for white nationalists.
In an interview Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio, with The Associated Press, Samantha Bloom said of her son James Alex Fields Jr., "I just knew he was going to a rally. I mean, I try to stay out of his political views. You know, we don't, you know, I don't really get too involved, I moved him out to his own apartment, so we -- I'm watching his cat."
Bloom was informed by The AP reporter that the rally was indeed organized by white nationalists. "I thought it had something to do with Trump. Trump's not a white supremacist," she said.
"He had an African-American friend so ...," she said before her voice trailed off.
In an interview with The Toledo Blade, she said, "I told him to be careful. [And] if they’re going to rally to make sure he’s doing it peacefully.”
Bloom told The AP she didn't even know about the incident until she spoke with the AP reporter. She said she was indeed surprised with the deadly outcome. "Yeah, that he would run his car into a group of people for... I'm really not clear on..."
When pressed by The AP reporter about what Bloom was told by her son, it does appear that he had indicated it was an alt-right gathering.
"Like I said, I don't really talk to him about his political views," she said. "He just -- so I don't really understand what the rally was about or anything, so... I just know there was -- he did mention it was 'albright'? What is it? Al--?"
The reporter then interrupts her, saying, "Alt-right?"
Bloom responds, "Albright"
The reporter then corrects her, saying, "No, alt-right. It's like alternative right."
Bloom told The AP she and her son had just moved to the Toledo area from the northern Kentucky city of Florence. She said that's where Fields grew up. She relocated to Ohio for work.
Fields, 20, has been charged with charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count related to leaving the scene. A bond hearing is scheduled for Monday.
