James Jackson Kills Black Man With Sword: ‘Practice’ To Kill More Black Men
The 28-year-old white man — James Harris Jackson — who traveled all the way to New York City just to, he told authorities, kill black people, and who allegedly did kill one black person with a sword, has been charged in the fatal stabbing. And according to the criminal complaint, the stabbing “was practice” for a later planned attack that was to take place in Times Square.
According to the criminal complaint, CNN reported, James Jackson allegedly killed Timothy Caughman, 66, as “practice” before going off to attack and kill black men in Times Square. However, after seeing his own likeness on television, Jackson turned himself in to authorities.
The criminal complaint further noted, according to CBS News, that Jackson told police officers that he had come to New York City from Baltimore “for the purpose of killing black men and had stalked numerous potential victims.”
The attack took place late Monday night (March 20) when James Jackson approached Timothy Caughman, who was rummaging through a trash bin (collecting bottles) near his home. A witness saw the two men together, according to CBS New York, on Ninth Avenue around 11:30 p.m. Then the suspect got on top of his soon-to-be victim, who was heard asking what the suspect was doing, CBS New York’s Emily Smith reported. The suspect was then seen stabbing the victim. The witness reportedly asked the victim if he needed help, but there was no response.
Even so, moments later Caughman staggered into the Midtown South police substation, a victim of stab wounds to the chest and back. He was quickly transported to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue where he later died.
Surveillance footage taken from a camera near the scene of the stabbing shows Jackson fleeing the scene shortly after the alleged attack. Authorities revealed also that Jackson went into the bathroom of a nearby restaurant and washed off the blood from the killing.
But after seeing himself on the news, James Jackson surrendered voluntarily to authorities just after midnight Wednesday, walking into the Times Square police substation and telling officers, “I’m the person that you’re looking for.”
Jackson has been charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime and also faces several weapons charges.
NYPD Assistant Chief Bill Aubry spoke Wednesday about the killing.
“The attack was clearly racially motivated. It’s well over 10 years he has been harboring these feelings of hate towards male blacks.”
Jackson had taken a bus from Baltimore to New York City, armed with a sword and two knives. CBS New York noted that police, during a press conference, displayed a 26-inch sword that was alleged to have been used in the fatal stabbing. Authorities say Jackson told them where they could find the alleged murder weapon.
“He knew what he was doing when he was coming up here,” Aubry said, according to CNN. “We’re fortunate it stopped at one and it wasn’t more.”
The criminal complaint went on say that Jackson had actually stalked numerous potential victims before he randomly chose Timothy Caughman as a target. Jackson also claimed he was angered by black men mixing with white women, according to the complaint.
“His intentions were to come here to harm male blacks,” CBS News reported Aubry as saying. “The reason why he picked New York is because it’s the media capital of the world, and he wanted to make a statement.”
He added, “He knew what he was doing when he was coming up here.”
James Jackson was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving from March 2009 to August 2012 as a military intelligence analyst, according to the Army. He was deployed to Afghanistan from December 2010 to November 2011, where he earned several medals and rose to the rank of specialist.
[Featured Image by Steven Hirsch/AP Images]
