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

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

19 Could 2022, 13:58

• 3 min learn

Hate crime costs have been introduced towards a man accused of planning to fatally shoot customers and workers of two Jonesboro, Georgia, convenience shops.

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

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

“No individual ought to be afraid to shop or go to work in our community. Nor ought to folks have to fret that they might be violently attacked because of the color of their skin,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Ok. Buchanan said in a statement.

Foxworth was charged with two counts of committing a federal hate crime and discharging a firearm to commit a violent crime. He has not yet 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 harm, or try to do so using a dangerous weapon due to the sufferer’s precise or perceived race, color, faith or nationwide origin.

Clayton County is a predominantly Black group, 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 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 Basic Kristen Clarke of the Justice Division’s Civil Rights Division said. “Fortunately no one was injured by the conduct alleged in this case, but the Justice Division is committed to utilizing all of the tools in our legislation enforcement arsenal to prosecute allegations of hate crimes.”

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

That is the primary time in about eight years that hate crime expenses have been filed within the Northern District of Georgia, a spokesperson for the U.S. Legal professional’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.