Federal hate crime charges introduced against man accused of plotting racist capturing in Georgia

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

19 May 2022, 13:58

• 3 min read

Hate crime expenses have been announced towards a man accused of planning to fatally shoot prospects and workers of two Jonesboro, Georgia, convenience shops.

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

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

“No person ought to be afraid to buy or go to work in our neighborhood. Nor ought to individuals have to fret that they may be violently attacked because of the colour of their pores and skin,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Ok. Buchanan mentioned in a press release.

Foxworth was charged with two counts of committing a federal hate crime and discharging a firearm to commit a violent crime. He has not but 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 cause bodily injury, or attempt to do so using a harmful weapon due to 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 response to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The charges in opposition to Foxworth come within the wake of the mass capturing at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store.

The 18-year-old suspect in Buffalo shot and killed 10 people, 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 Normal Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division stated. “Fortunately nobody was injured by the conduct alleged on this case, but the Justice Division is dedicated to utilizing all the tools in our law enforcement arsenal to prosecute allegations of hate crimes.”

U.S. Assistant Attorney Basic for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke speaks throughout a information conference at the Department of Justice, Aug. 5, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

That is the primary time in about eight years that hate crime costs have been filed in the Northern District of Georgia, a spokesperson for the U.S. Lawyer’s Office instructed ABC Information.

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

ABC News' Luke Barr contributed to this report.