The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed hate crime charges for the shooting of two Hispanic men in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, earlier this year.
Douglas Wayne Cornett, 57, was arrested Feb. 29 on two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony. New charges include discharging a firearm in public, shooting from a vehicle to risk injury, two counts of shooting in the commission of a felony and two counts of assault and battery as a hate crime.
The victims told police Cornett asked them questions about their Hispanic heritage and their legal status in the country before opening fire.
Washington, D.C., based CAIR previously welcomed a hate crime investigation of the shootings.
SEE: CAIR Welcomes Hate Crime Probe of Shooting of Two Hispanic Men in Virginia
“We welcome these hate crime charges as recognition of the alleged bias motive in this case,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “Unfortunately, minority communities face increased discrimination and attacks based on a rise in bigotry nationwide.”
Hooper noted that last month, CAIR urged federal law enforcement authorities to investigate an attack on a Mexican band in Oregon as a possible hate crime.
He said CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com