BUTCHER’S PLAN
Racist: Stab practice for a Times Sq. massacre
A HATE-FUELED white supremacist told cops his killing of a random black man was merely a practice run for a racist mass murder spree.
Suspect James Jackson, who came from Baltimore to unleash his homicidal bile, said his unprovoked sword attack Monday night on an unarmed black man was the first of many plotted executions.
“His intention was to kill as many black men here in New York as he could,” said Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi at the suspect’s Thursday arraignment. “New York was selected because he believed he’d get the most media attention.”
Jackson, 28, stalked several other potential victims, including an interracial couple, before repeatedly plunging the 18-inch blade of the sword into an unsuspecting Timothy Caughman, authorities said.
“Mr. Jackson regarded the killing as practice prior to going to Times Square to kill additional black men,” according to court documents.
The accused killer appeared agitated and restless, scowling in the direction of court workers at one point, as he appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on a new count of murder as a hate crime. Prosecutors said the murder was “most likely an act of terrorism.”
Jackson was led into court wearing a white Tyvek suit for a second straight day, with his hands cuffed and his feet shackled. Judge Herb Moses ordered Jackson held without bail.
The accused killer began wandering the Times Square area looking for African-American targets after arriving via Bolt Bus from the Charm City last Friday.
“He walked around selecting and stalking black men, with an intent to determine who he was going to attack,” Illuzzi said.
Around 11:15 p.m. Monday, authorities said, he settled on Caughman as the 66-year-old man rooted through the garbage on Ninth Ave. in search of returnable cans and bottles.
“The attack came from behind,” the prosecutor said.
“What are you doing?” Caughman asked in disbelief after the sneak attack.
A witness who saw the stabbing said there was a white man on top of the black victim, whose chest was covered in blood when he rose from the ground, according to the criminal complaint. The blade pierced Caughman’s chest and exited his back.
After the “vicious and coldblooded” killing, Jackson casually walked eastbound on W. 36th St. as Caughman staggered south along Ninth Ave., authorities said.
Nine minutes later, the dying man appeared inside the Midtown South Precinct roll call room with blood pouring from wounds to his hand, face, chest and back.
The court session on Thursday came shortly after the medical examiner’s office said Caughman died of internal bleeding caused by wounds to his spleen, bowels, pancreas, diaphragm and lung.
Caughman, known for a Twitter page filled with photos of himself and celebrities, died at Bellevue Hospital.
Jackson surrendered to an officer outside the NYPD substation in Times Square barely 24 hours after the stabbing.
He told police he originally planned to strike in Washington, D.C., and his racist views were spelled out in a manifesto on his laptop. It was not clear late Thursday if cops had yet secured a search warrant to examine the computer and his cell phone.
He told cops he planned to send the document to media outlets following his rampage, sources said.
Jackson told cops he’s harbored his hatred for years.
“He said to detectives, ‘I’ve had this hatred for black men since I was a teenager,’” a source said.