Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Charlottesville car attack could be a "hate crime," but cautioned that the Department of Justice is taking its time to charge the driver.
"It very well could be a civil rights violation or a hate crime, and there might be other charges that could be brought," Sessions told NBC News in an interview on Wednesday.
But, Sessions cautioned investigators are working through to make sure they charge the 20-year-old suspect correctly, and gave no timetable on when that may be.
"So, we are working it intensely on the assumption we may well might want to prosecute him," he said, adding the Justice Department is working with both state and local officials "in a collaborative way, to see what the best charges will be."
"One of the worst things you can do is get into some sort of fight over jurisdiction and try to snatch a case from another jurisdiction. The right and professional thing to do is work together and to make an honest and objective decision about whether the right place is to bring the case," Sessions added.
Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio drove his car into a group of counter-protesters amid a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, according to police. At least 19 others were injured during the crash.
The Justice Department does not comment on ongoing investigations, but, when asked about how long it may take for the Justice Department to file charges, Sessions said the department doesn't "feel like we should feel like we have to do it in a matter of hours or even days."
Sessions also added he is not able to reveal if the attack was pre-planned, but will "bring those facts out at the appropriate time."
The Justice Department announced late Saturday it had opened a federal civil rights hate crime investigation into Saturday's events.
In June, Sessions told federal prosecutors he would aggressively enforce federal hate crime laws.
"I know the responsibility that we have, and we have a responsibility to protect people's freedom, their religious rights, their integrity, their ability to express themselves, to push back against violence and hate crimes that occur in our country," Sessions said. "So, we're going to do that, I will assure you, in every way."
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