A racist Maryland man stalked one African-American man before turning his attention to a different victim and running his sword through the man.
White supremacist James Jackson, who stabbed Timothy Caughman on Monday, had apparently taken the bus up to New York from Baltimore because “he wanted to make a statement,” according to Assistant Chief William Aubry. Jackson had set his sights on New York for the most possible coverage of his crime because he saw it as the “media capital of the world.”
Jackson reportedly arrived in New York by bus on Friday and got a room at The HotelTimes Square before he started up his hunt for African-American men. According to a law enforcement source, he followed one man for some time before something “spooked him.”
“He appeared to be very close, following a black guy,” the source said. “He slows down and at one point he turned around and came back. It’s clear he was really focused on the guy for some time. Then, he falls out of camera view and doesn’t attack the guy. He made statements that he was following the guy but something spooked him.”
Then, Jackson spotted Caughman and attacked him instead. Although Caughman was rushed to the hospital, he died after the attack.
On Wednesday, Jackson arrived at the NYPD Times Square substation and announced to police, “I’m the person that you’re looking for.” He told police that he was armed with two knives and gave them the location of his sword after he had ditched it, claiming that he was a member of a white supremacist organization and claiming that his views were detailed on his laptop.
“I’d rather not get too specific, but in general he came here to target male blacks,” Aubry said.
Mayor de Blasio has expressed the city’s outrage over Caughman’s death, saying, “More than an unspeakable human tragedy, this is an assault on what makes this the greatest city in the world: our inclusiveness and our diversity. Now it’s our collective responsibility to speak clearly and forcefully in the face of intolerance and violence — here or across the country. We are a safe city because we are inclusive. We are a nation of unrivaled strength because we are diverse. No act of violence can undermine who we are.”
Many people took to social media to pay respect to Caughman and express their condolences.
