March 17, 2023 - A federal judge in Atlanta yesterday sentenced Larry Edward Foxworth, 48, of Jonesboro, Georgia, to 240 months in prison for shooting into two convenience stores attempting to kill those inside because he believed they were Black or Arab. 

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.

“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 Justice Department is committed to aggressively prosecuting those individuals who carry out hate crimes in our country.”  

“Foxworth used a firearm to commit a brazen and heinous hate crime,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia. “He fired repeatedly into convenience stores in his effort to kill those inside based solely on the color of their skin.  This abhorrent act of violence and intimidation left the victims, their families, and the community traumatized, and merits the prison sentence Foxworth received. The Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously prosecute hate crimes.” 

“Hopefully this lengthy sentence proves that the FBI will not tolerate intimidation and violence against anyone because of their race or ethnicity,” said Special Agent in Charge Keri Farley of FBI Atlanta Field Office. “The FBI’s Civil Rights Program will continue to use every resource available to ensure criminals, like Foxworth, that commit bias-motivated violent crimes are held accountable and removed from our streets.”

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.

For more information and resources on the department’s efforts to combat hate crimes, visit justice.gov/hatecrimes.

Source: DOJ Release