The alleged white supremacist who ploughed his car into a crowd of anti-fascism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday (12 August) has been denied bail.

James Fields, 20, is accused of killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others by intentionally driving his car into them.

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He reversed the car and quickly drove away, but police arrested him shortly afterwards and charged him with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit and run.

Fields' mother, Samantha Bloom, told Associated Press that she knew her son was attending a rally – but did not realise it was organised by white supremacists.

She said she thought the rally "had to do something with Trump", adding "Trump's not a supremacist."

The suspect's former high school teacher, Derek Weimer, described Fields as a "very misguided and disillusioned" individual to the Cinnicinati Tribune.

He said his former pupil held views that were "very much along the lines of the neo-Nazi movement".

"A lot of boys get interested in the Germans and Nazis because they're interested in World War II. But James took it to another level," Weimer said.

Dressed in a striped jumpsuit, Fields spoke briefly in court to say that he was employed by Securitas and Omni in Ohio and deny that he had any ties with Charlottesville, according to a BBC report. He said that he could not afford a lawyer as he earned $325 a week, and was appointed one by the judge.

Judge Downer explained that Fields could not be appointed a public defender as a relative of an someone working in the public defender's office had been injured in the crash.

As Fields left the court, white supremacist Matthew Heimbach shouted that Heyer's death was the fault of police.

A crowd gathered outside the courthouse chanted "Nazis go home."