(CNN) This week a 28-year-old white supremacist traveled to New York for the express purpose of killing a black man. Any black man. Within hours, Timothy Caughman, a black man from Queens, stumbled to a midtown police station bleeding. He had been stabbed, ultimately fatally, with a 26-inch sword. "What are you doing?" Caughman had asked his assailant. James Harris Jackson gave police officers his answer: He hates black men and has since his youth. His plan was to kill more people than Caughman. He considered taking an officers' gun and shooting more black men. The tragic killing of Timothy Caughman is a heinous hate crime. It is also an act of domestic terrorism. And it matters that we begin to name white supremacist murders in this way.Sherrilyn Ifill: The tragic killing of Timothy Caughman is a heinous hate crime; it is also an act of domestic terrorismDesignating crimes of white supremacist violence as terrorism sends a message to vulnerable communities, she writes
Like Roof, _ chose the location for his alleged crime to heighten the public significance of his act. _, Jackson told police, was ideal because it is the "media capital" of the country. New York, _ told police, was ideal because it is the "media capital" of the country. Even if he is convicted of second-degree murder, _ will be imprisoned for a very long time.