Douglas Wayne Cornett, a 58-year-old man from Virginia, pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes for shooting two Latino men after becoming enraged about illegal immigration. The incident occurred in February 2024 when Cornett followed a truck driven by one victim, O.G., to a gas station, inquiring about the victim's legal status. After learning that O.G. was undocumented, Cornett opened fire, hitting both men. His obsession with cable news coverage of immigration was noted, as were his violent fantasies about retaliating against migrants. The U.S. Justice Department condemned the attack as an assault on equality.
Cornett told a detective he was 'pissed' about undocumented migrants receiving welfare funds, and had fantasized about firing on them from an Apache helicopter.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon stated that hate crimes driven by bias against national origin attack the principles of equality and justice.
Collection
[
|
...
]