Murder of Timothy Caughman

Stabbing of Timothy Caughman
Murder of Timothy Caughman (Manhattan) Murder of Timothy Caughman (New York City) Murder of Timothy Caughman (New York) Murder of Timothy Caughman (the United States)
Location	Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S.
Coordinates	40°45′17″N 73°59′43″W
Date	March 20, 2017 (2017-03-20) (EDT)
Target	African American men
Attack type	Stabbing, hate crime, terrorism
Weapons	Sword like object
Deaths	1
Victim	Timothy Caughman
Perpetrator	James Harris Jackson
Motive	White supremacy

On March 20, 2017, Timothy Caughman, a black 66-year-old man, was collecting cans for recycling in Manhattan, New York City when James Harris Jackson, a white 28-year-old man, allegedly approached him and stabbed him multiple times with a sword. Caughman later died of his injuries. Jackson subsequently turned himself in to police custody and confirmed that he traveled from Maryland to New York with the intention of killing black men in order to prevent white women from having interracial relationships with them.

Attack

Jackson traveled by bus from his home in Baltimore, Maryland to New York City on March 17 with the intention of killing black men in order to prevent white women from having interracial relationships with them, according to reports. He stayed at the Hotel Times Square on W. 46th Street. On March 20, Jackson allegedly walked up to Caughman with an 18-inch sword and stabbed him to death in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Jackson turned himself in to police on March 22. According to police, Jackson told them that he planned to attack more black men in Times Square.

Victim

Caughman was born in 1950 or 1951 in Jamaica, Queens. His parents were a home health care aide and a pastor. He was raised in the South Jamaica Houses in Queens. He graduated from Brooklyn College with an associate's degree and earned a living as a social service worker. He took up can and bottle recycling to earn money and keep busy. For the last 20 years of his life, he lived on West 36th Street in Manhattan, in a building known as The Barbour Hotel. It is now housing for people transitioning out of homelessness, but Caughman was not homeless.

Aftermath

Jackson, a Baltimore, Maryland native, turned himself in to police and said he took the bus to Manhattan to kill black men, whom he said he had hated for over ten years. Jackson said he picked New York because he wanted to make a statement. He was charged with second-degree murder at a March 23 arraignment, though the prosecutor is reportedly working on upgrading the charge to the first degree, as well as adding a hate crime charge. He did not apply for bail and was held pending his next court date on March 27.

On March 27, Jackson was charged with one count each of murder in the first and second degrees as an act of terrorism, second-degree murder as a hate crime, and three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the New York State Supreme Court.

On April 5, Jackson pled "not guilty" to the charges.