Police say stabbing suspect came to New York to kill black men

The 28-year-old white supremacist traveled to the state from Maryland

James Harris Jackson is escorted in New York on March 22, 2017. (Seth Wenig/AP)

Authorities with the New York Police Department on Wednesday announced that a white supremacist was charged in the stabbing death of a 66-year-old black man in Manhattan this week.

The homicide is being investigated as a hate crime because police believe the 28-year-old suspect traveled from Maryland to New York to target and kill black men. They said that the suspect has a deep-seated hatred of black people.

"He came here to target male blacks," Assistant Chief Bill Aubrey told reporters at a news conference. "[He] picked New York because it's the media capital of the world. He knew what he was doing coming up here."

The suspect was identified as James Harris Jackson, who served in the US Army for four years and had toured in Afghanistan and Germany. He told police that he identifies as a white supremacist and had written a manifesto declaring his views.

Authorities said the suspect walked into a police station in Times Square at midnight where police found two knives in his possession. "You need to arrest me. I have the knife in my pocket," he reportedly told police.

The victim, identified as Timothy Caughman, was attacked and stabbed in his chest and back at Ninth Avenue and West 36th Street around 11:30pm on Monday night. ABC reports that he managed to stumble more than a block to a police station where he collapsed. He was later pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.