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

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

19 Could 2022, 13:58

• 3 min read

Hate crime charges have been announced against a person accused of planning to fatally shoot prospects and employees of two Jonesboro, Georgia, convenience stores.

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

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

“No particular person must be afraid to buy or go to work in our community. Nor ought to individuals have to worry that they could be violently attacked due to the color of their pores and 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 is being charged below the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, which makes it a federal crime to willfully trigger bodily harm, or attempt to do so utilizing a harmful weapon due to the sufferer’s actual or perceived race, shade, religion or nationwide origin.

Clayton County is a predominantly Black community, making up 72.8% of the inhabitants, based on the U.S. Census Bureau.

The charges towards Foxworth come within 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 General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Division’s Civil Rights Division stated. “Fortunately no one was injured by the conduct alleged in this case, but the Justice Department is committed to using all of the tools in our regulation enforcement arsenal to prosecute allegations of hate crimes.”

U.S. Assistant Lawyer General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke speaks throughout a information convention on the Department 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 within the Northern District of Georgia, a spokesperson for the U.S. Lawyer’s Office instructed ABC News.

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

ABC News' Luke Barr contributed to this report.