Federal hate crime costs announced towards man accused of plotting racist taking pictures in Georgia

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

19 May 2022, 13:58

• 3 min learn

Hate crime fees have been announced against a man accused of planning to fatally shoot clients and employees of two Jonesboro, Georgia, comfort shops.

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

The indictment alleges that Foxworth, who's white, was motivated to shoot into the stores due to the perceived race, colour or national origin of the people contained in the stores.

“No person must be afraid to buy or go to work in our group. Nor should individuals have to worry that they may be violently attacked because of the colour of their skin,” U.S. Lawyer Ryan Ok. Buchanan said 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's being charged beneath the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, which makes it a federal crime to willfully trigger bodily harm, or try to take action utilizing a harmful weapon because of the sufferer’s precise or perceived race, coloration, faith or nationwide origin.

Clayton County is a predominantly Black community, making up 72.8% of the population, in response to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The charges against Foxworth come in the wake of the mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store.

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 Division’s Civil Rights Division mentioned. “Fortunately no one was injured by the conduct alleged on this case, however the Justice Department is dedicated to utilizing all 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 convention 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. Legal professional’s Office instructed ABC News.

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.