GEORGIA
A federal judge on Thursday in Atlanta sentenced Larry Edward Foxworth, 48, of Jonesboro, Georgia, to 20 years in prison for a hate crime, officials stated.
Foxworth shot into two convenience stores trying to kill those inside because he believed they were Black or Arab.
(Two Months Earlier)
According to court records, at approximately 2:35 a.m. on July 30, 2021, Foxworth fired numerous rounds from a Glock pistol through a window and door of a gas station convenience store located in Jonesboro, Georgia.
Just minutes later, at approximately 2:57 a.m., he again fired multiple rounds from the same handgun through the windows and door of a different gas station convenience store located nearby.
Both stores were open and occupied when Foxworth shot into the businesses. No one was injured during either shooting.
Clayton County Police Department officers arrested Foxworth shortly after the second attack.
After his arrest, Foxworth told officers that he had targeted the stores because he wanted to kill Arab and Black people, and he believed that there were people inside the stores who belonged to those groups.
Foxworth expressed hope that he had killed his targets and professed belief in white supremacist ideology, officials stated.
“The defendant fired a gun into a store wanting to kill people who he thought were Black or Arab,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Hate-fueled violence not only traumatizes the victims, but it threatens and intimidates an entire community. This sentence demonstrates the importance of holding accountable those who commit racially-motivated violence.”
The FBI Atlanta Field Office and the Clayton County Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Alan Gray for the Northern District of Georgia and Trial Attorney Alec Ward of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.