Federal hate crime fees introduced in opposition to man accused of plotting racist capturing in Georgia

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

19 May 2022, 13:58

• 3 min read

Hate crime charges have been announced in opposition to a man accused of planning to fatally shoot customers and workers of two Jonesboro, Georgia, comfort shops.

Larry Edward Foxworth allegedly fired a gun repeatedly into two convenience shops at 2:30 a.m. on July 30, 2021. Both shops were open for business.

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

“No person must be afraid to buy or go to work in our group. Nor ought to folks have to worry that they might be violently attacked due to the colour of their skin,” U.S. Lawyer Ryan Ok. 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 but entered a plea.

He is being charged below the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, which makes it a federal crime to willfully trigger bodily damage, or try to do so using a dangerous weapon because of the sufferer’s actual or perceived race, colour, religion or national origin.

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

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

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 Common Kristen Clarke of the Justice Division’s Civil Rights Division said. “Fortunately nobody was injured by the conduct alleged in this case, but the Justice Department is committed to using all of the tools in our law enforcement arsenal to prosecute allegations of hate crimes.”

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

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