Army veteran and white supremacist James Harris Jackson has pleaded guilty to a series of charges including murder stemming from his sword attack against a black man in Times Square.
Jackson, who described the March 2017 assault as a “practice run” for more attacks against black people, confessed that he drew a sword out of his jacket and stabbed a homeless black man identified as Timothy Caughman multiple times.
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Caughman, who had been collecting recyclables, stumbled to a nearby police station after being stabbed. An ambulance took Caughman to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.
Jackson also acknowledged that he attempted to stalk multiple black men several days prior to the attack with a sword and two knives and that his objective was to attack “the African-American community in the United States and beyond.” He said he attacked Caughman specifically due to his race.
Jackson told investigators after his arrest that he wanted to “influence the national conversation” and decided New York would attract the most attention.
“I was planning on doing basically as many as I could in Times Square,” he said, adding he planned to contact media outlets about the attack.
Jackson, who pleaded guilty despite the recommendation of his attorney not to, will be sentenced on Feb. 13 and may spend the rest of his life behind bars. He served in the Army for three years and served several tours in Afghanistan.
Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance, Jr. said that Jackson became “self-radicalized” after he left the military and said “he saw himself as a key element in starting a worldwide racial war,” per the New York Times.
Vance also warned after the proceedings that there would be consequences for violent acts inspired by white nationalism.
“White nationalism will not be normalized in New York,” Vance told reporters Wednesday. “If you come here to kill New Yorkers in the name of white nationalism, you will be investigated, prosecuted, and incapacitated like the terrorist that you are.”
