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

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

19 May 2022, 13:58

• 3 min read

Hate crime expenses have been introduced against a person accused of planning to fatally shoot customers and staff 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 shops were open for business.

The indictment alleges that Foxworth, who is white, was motivated to shoot into the stores due to the perceived race, shade or nationwide origin of the individuals inside the stores.

“No particular person ought to be afraid to shop or go to work in our community. Nor should folks have to fret that they might be violently attacked due to the color of their skin,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan stated 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's being charged beneath the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, which makes it a federal crime to willfully cause bodily damage, or try to do so using a dangerous weapon due to the sufferer’s actual or perceived race, color, religion or nationwide origin.

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

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

The 18-year-old suspect in Buffalo shot and killed 10 individuals, 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 said. “Thankfully nobody was injured by the conduct alleged on this case, but the Justice Department is committed to utilizing all the tools in our law enforcement arsenal to prosecute allegations of hate crimes.”

U.S. Assistant Lawyer Basic for the Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke speaks during a news conference on the Department of Justice, Aug. 5, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

That is the primary time in about eight years that hate crime prices have been filed within the Northern District of Georgia, a spokesperson for the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace told ABC News.

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

ABC Information' Luke Barr contributed to this report.