White Veteran Charged With Murder Of Black Man As Hate Crime
NEW YORK (WJZ/AP) — A white Army veteran accused of randomly killing a black man on the streets of New York by stabbing him with a sword was charged Thursday with murder as a hate crime.
"His intent was to kill as many black men here in New York as he could," prosecutor Joan Illuzzi said as James Harris Jackson, 28, was arraigned in the slaying of 66-year-old Timothy Caughman. "The defendant was motivated purely by hatred."
Illuzzi said Jackson was angered in particular by black men who date white women.
Authorities said Jackson traveled from his home in Baltimore last week, picking New York because he hoped to "make a statement" in the media capital of the world. He encountered Caughman, who was collecting bottles from trash cans, and stabbed him in his chest and back, authorities said.
No one answered the door at Jackson's home Thursday. Neighbors described him as friendly enough, but not someone who drew much attention on the quiet street.
WJZ learned that Jackson is a 2007 graduate of the Friends School of Baltimore.
WJZ also received a copy of a letter sent to the Friends School community:
By now, many of you will have heard the deeply disturbing news reports about a Baltimore man who traveled to New York City with the intention of killing a black person and who followed through on that intention Monday night. I'm sure that you experienced, as I did, heartbreak and disbelief at learning of this horrifying act of racial hatred. What I need to share with you now adds many other emotions to that initial heartbreak and disbelief: The man who, according to news reports has confessed to this crime, is a 2007 graduate of Friends School.It pains me deeply to have to share this information with you, and yet, once we became aware of it, I felt it was important that you hear this news from the school rather than through other sources.I recognize that this news might cause some members of our community, students and adults, to feel a particularly powerful sense of grief and anguish because of their racial identity. It goes without saying that everything about this attack, especially its apparent motivation, is entirely antithetical to our values and ideals as a school and those of the Religious Society of Friends, which has a long history of commitment to diversity, racial equity, social justice, and non-violence. I know that you will join with me in holding in the Light the family and friends of Timothy Caughman, the victim of the attack.We have important and difficult work to do, individually and collectively, in coming to grips with this tragedy that resonates so painfully for our community. We will seek to do so in a manner that is in keeping with the traditions and principles of Friends School, and we will pursue this work with the hope and determination that - in whatever small, unknowable ways - it may somehow lessen the chances of such a terrible tragedy happening again. We will eagerly welcome guidance and input from the members of our community as we undertake this work together, and I thank you all in advance for the strength and wisdom you will surely contribute to this effort.
The letter doesn't name the confessed killer.
A sentiment echoed by Judson Porter, who's lived next to the campus for more than 20 years.
"If someone asked me if any graduate of friends would do anything bad, I would say the probability is low," Porter said.
He turned himself in at a Times Square police station early Wednesday, a day after the wounded Caughman staggered into a police precinct. The sword was found in a trash can.
Illuzzi said the charges could be upgraded because the killing was an act "most likely of terrorism."
Jackson's lawyer suggested that his client might be suffering from mental illness.
"What we're going to do is take a few minutes, let the dust settle and figure out what the facts are," defense attorney Sam Talkin said outside court. "If the facts are anything near what the allegations are, then we're going to address the obvious psychological issues that are present in this case. "
Jackson told police he had harbored hatred toward black men for at least 10 years, authorities said.
Jackson was in the Army from 2009 to 2012 and worked as an intelligence analyst, the Army said. Deployed in Afghanistan in 2010-11, he earned several medals and attained the rank of specialist. The circumstances of his discharge were not immediately clear; the Army withholds such details, citing privacy laws.
According to Caughman's Twitter page, he was an autograph collector and a music and movie lover who tweeted about John Lennon and Chuck Berry.
Court documents say, Jackson brought other knives to New York and told police he planned to kill again.
Jackson had weapons on him when he surrendered. He's facing three counts of criminal possession of a weapon, in addition to the murder charge.
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