Federal hate crime fees announced against man accused of plotting racist taking pictures in Georgia

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

19 Could 2022, 13:58

• 3 min learn

Hate crime costs have been introduced against a man accused of planning to fatally shoot clients and staff of two Jonesboro, Georgia, comfort stores.

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

The indictment alleges that Foxworth, who is white, was motivated to shoot into the shops due to the perceived race, coloration or national origin of the people contained in the shops.

“No individual must be afraid to shop or go to work in our neighborhood. Nor should people have to fret that they might be violently attacked because of the colour of their 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 is being charged underneath the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, which makes it a federal crime to willfully cause bodily damage, or try to take action using a harmful weapon because of the sufferer’s actual or perceived race, color, faith or national origin.

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

The fees against Foxworth come in the wake of the mass taking pictures 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 Attorney Normal Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “Thankfully nobody was injured by the conduct alleged on this case, but the Justice Department is committed to utilizing all of the instruments in our regulation enforcement arsenal to prosecute allegations of hate crimes.”

U.S. Assistant Attorney Common for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke speaks during 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 charges have been filed within the Northern District of Georgia, a spokesperson for the U.S. Legal professional’s Office advised ABC News.

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

ABC Information' Luke Barr contributed to this report.