Federal hate crime charges announced towards man accused of plotting racist shooting in Georgia

The person allegedly shot into two grocery shops in Jonesboro, Georgia.

19 Could 2022, 13:58

• 3 min learn

Hate crime costs have been introduced against a person accused of planning to fatally shoot prospects and employees of two Jonesboro, Georgia, convenience shops.

Larry Edward Foxworth allegedly fired a gun repeatedly into two convenience shops at 2:30 a.m. on July 30, 2021. Each shops have been open for enterprise.

The indictment alleges that Foxworth, who's white, was motivated to shoot into the shops due to the perceived race, color or national origin of the people inside the shops.

“No person must be afraid to shop or go to work in our community. Nor ought to people have to worry that they might be violently attacked due to the colour of their skin,” U.S. Lawyer Ryan K. Buchanan mentioned in an announcement.

Foxworth was charged with two counts of committing a federal hate crime and discharging a firearm to commit a violent crime. He has not yet entered a plea.

He's being charged beneath the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, which makes it a federal crime to willfully trigger bodily injury, or try to do so using a harmful weapon because of the victim’s actual or perceived race, color, religion or nationwide origin.

Clayton County is a predominantly Black group, making up 72.8% of the inhabitants, in keeping with the U.S. Census Bureau.

The charges in opposition to Foxworth come in the wake of the mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket.

The 18-year-old suspect in Buffalo shot and killed 10 folks, injuring three others, in what authorities have described as a racially motivated rampage.

“Hate-fueled violence has no place in a civilized society,” Assistant Lawyer Basic Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division mentioned. “Fortunately nobody was injured by the conduct alleged on this case, however the Justice Department is committed to using all the instruments in our legislation enforcement arsenal to prosecute allegations of hate crimes.”

U.S. Assistant Attorney Common for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke speaks throughout a news conference on the Division of Justice, Aug. 5, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

This is the primary time in about eight years that hate crime charges have been filed in the Northern District of Georgia, a spokesperson for the U.S. Lawyer’s Office informed ABC News.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Clayton County Police Division.

ABC Information' Luke Barr contributed to this report.