The US man accused of ploughing a car into a crowd of people protesting against a white supremacist rally idolised Adolf Hitler and sparked concerns among school staff over his "deeply held, radical" convictions on race, a former teacher says.
James Alex Fields Jr, 20, also confided he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was younger and had been prescribed an anti-psychotic medication, Derek Weimer told the Associated Press.
In high school, Fields was an "average" student but had a keen interest in military history, Hitler and Nazi Germany, said Weimer, who said he taught Fields social studies in Union, Kentucky.
"Once you talked to James for a while, you would start to see that sympathy towards Nazism, that idolisation of Hitler, that belief in white supremacy," Weimer said.
Police charged Fields with second-degree murder for allegedly driving his vehicle through a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, killing a 32-year-old woman and wounding at least 19 others.
Fields had been photographed hours earlier carrying the emblem of Vanguard America, one of the hate groups that organised the rally in protest of the removal of a Confederate statue.
The group on Sunday denied any association with Fields.
Weimer recalled that school officials had singled out Fields for his political beliefs and convictions on race and Nazism.
Fields was a big Donald Trump supporter because of what he believed to be Trump's views on race, Weimer said.
He said he helped Fields apply for the army in the belief it would expose him to people from different backgrounds and help shift his views on race.
However, Fields was turned down and Weimer said he was later surprised to hear Fields had enlisted after graduation.
The army confirmed Fields reported for basic training in August 2015 but was later released "due to a failure to meet training standards".
Fields' mother, Samantha Bloom, told the AP she knew her son was going to Virginia for a rally but she had no idea it involved white supremacists.
