Bashar al-Assad's white supremacist fans in Charlottesville

Bashar al-Assad's white supremacist fans in Charlottesville
The Facebook page of a man arrested over a car-ramming attack in Charlottesville, Virginia appear to show his support for Syrian regime head Bashar al-Assad.
2 min read
13 Aug, 2017
Assad has become somewhat of an idol in the white supremacist movement. [Getty]
Screenshots which appear on the alleged Facebook page of James Fields - arrested for murder over a car-ramming attack in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday - appear to show sympathies for Syrian regime president Bashar al-Assad.

Twenty-year-old James Fields is accused of driving his car at high-speed into a group of anti-fascist demonstration protesting against the "Unite the Right" white supremacist rally in the town.

The attack left a 32-year old woman dead and injured 19 others with Fields charged with second degree murder on Sunday.

Since being named as the suspect, images from Fields' Facebook page have appeared online, with screenshots showing clear white supremacist sympathies.

It shows Adolph Hitler as a baby, the white nationalist symbol Pepe the Frog, and photos of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, which the Nazis used as a party symbol, ThinkProgress reported.

Also included photo of President Bashar al-Assad with the caption "undefeated" in the screenshot shared widely among Syrian activists, but cannot be independently verified.

The Syrian regime president has become something of an idol among white supremacists, who often voice strongly Islamophobic sentiments.

In March, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who appeared at the 'Unite the Right' rally, called Assad a "modern day hero standing up to demonic forces seeking to destroy his people and nation".

Reviled white supremacist Richard Spencer, who helped organize the 'Unite the Right' rally, has also repeatedly expressed solidarity with Assad on social media.

He has tweeted under the hashtag #StandWithAssad and changed his Twitter profile to add the Syrian flag, which is associated with Assad.

The Charlottesville rally on Saturday saw a similar collection of Assad fanboys.

Several T-shirts emblazoned with "Bashar's Barrel Delivery Co" seen in the crowd were spotted, referring to the rudimentary but deadly bombs dropped by regime planes on Syrian towns.

One far-right blogger named Baked Alaska, who was later maced during scuffles, filmed one protester wearing the t-shirt saying: "Support the Syrian Arab army... fight against the globalists."

"Assad did nothing wrong", the protester went on to say. Around half a million people have died in Syria's war, the vast majority being civilians and victims of regime shelling and bombing.