US veteran charged with terrorism for killing black man

Police say James Jackson 'prowled the streets
of New York for three days in search of a black
person to assassinate'.

A white US army veteran accused of fatally stabbing a 66-
year-old black man has been charged with murder as an
 act of terrorism after telling police he was planning a race-based killing spree.

James Jackson, 28, "prowled the streets of New York for
three days in search of a black person to assassinate in 
order to launch a campaign of terrorism against our Manhattan community and the values we celebrate," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a 
statement on Monday.

"Last week, with total presence of mind, he acted on his 
plan, randomly selecting a beloved New Yorker solely on 
the basis of his skin colour, and stabbing him repeatedly 
and publicly on a Midtown street corner."

He was formally charged in New York State Supreme 
Court with one count each of murder in the first and 
second degrees as an act of terrorism, murder in the
 second degree as a hate crime, as well as three counts 
of criminal possession of a weapon.


Jackson's lawyer has said there are "obvious psychological
issues" involved.

Police say Jackson admitted stabbing Timothy Caughman,
who was collecting bottles for recycling, multiple times on
March 20. Caughman managed to walk two blocks to a
police station but died in hospital.

Jackson - who served in the US Army from 2009 to 2012, a
stint that included a tour of duty in Afghanistan - turned
himself in to police in Times Square on Wednesday after
police released surveillance video of the stabbing.

He told police he considered the killing to be "practice
 prior to going to Times Square to kill additional black men," according to the complaint.

It said he was "angered by black men mixing with 
white women".

The case comes as several major US cities including 
New York grapple with an increase in hate crimes.

On Wednesday, Vance's office launched a "Too New York 
To Hate" campaign to encourage victims and witnesses of
violence against an ethnic group, community or religion to
come forward to testify.