White supremacist pleads guilty to fatally stabbing black man with a sword

A white supremacist on Wednesday pleaded guilty to stabbing and killing a black man with a sword in 2017.

James Jackson, 30, admitted to killing Timothy Caughman, 66, in New York after stalking multiple black men, according to The Associated Press. Police say he intended to start a race war.

{mosads}Jackson had previously told police that he traveled to the city from Baltimore because New York was the media capital of the world, adding that the attack served as practice for future assaults against the African-American population.

He said in a 2017 jailhouse interview that he intended the attack to be a “practice run” in an effort to stop interracial relationships. 

Jackson pleaded guilty to six counts, including murder, terrorism and a hate crime charge. He faces life in prison when he is formally sentenced in February, the AP reported.

The guilty plea reportedly came after Judge Laura Ward said that jurors would hear a detailed confession from Jackson if the case went to trial. Jackson’s attorneys told the AP that he pleaded guilty against their advice.

Caughman was alone and collecting bottles to recycle at the time of the stabbing. He entered a nearby police station bleeding, before dying at a hospital. 

Jackson, a veteran who served in Afghanistan, told police after the slaying that he had thrown a sword into a trash can, but that he held onto two additional knives, according to The New York Post.

He reportedly spent hours searching for a new target before turning himself into police the next day. 

Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, told reporters that this was more than a “murder case.”

“This was a case of terrorism, just as any Islamic jihadist who has come to New York City and sought to kill New Yorkers in an effort to interrupt and destabilize our way of life,” Vance said.