Virginia man pleads guilty to shooting Latino men he thought were illegal immigrants
On Wednesday, June 18, Douglas W. Cornett pleaded guilty to two counts of federal hate crimes involving attempts to kill and one count of discharging a firearm during a federal crime of violence.
Court documents identify the two Latino men Cornett shot as 'Victim 1' and 'Victim 2.' Authorities in Spotsylvania previously said they are both from Prince William County.
On Feb. 28, 2024, Cornett was driving on Interstate 95 when he came up on a box truck driven by Victim 1. Per court documents, Cornett honked at the truck and remained behind it despite Victim 1 trying to let him pass. He then followed the truck to a fueling station.
Upon his arrival, Victim 1 spoke to a friend of his who worked at the fueling station. He asked that friend, who spoke English, to ask Cornett what was wrong. After a brief conversation between the friend and Cornett, Victim 1 left the fueling station.
Cornett proceeded to follow Victim 1 to the Thornburg area Sheetz, located close to the fueling station, according to court documents. Seeing this, Victim 1's friend called Victim 2 and told him that someone was following Victim 1.
Victim 2 happened to be fueling up at the Sheetz at that time and he witnessed both Victim 1 and Cornett pulling into the station. Victim 2 then approached Cornett and asked him why he was following Victim 1. Cornett answered by asking Victim 2 how long Victim 1 had been in the United States.
With Victim 2 translating for them, Victim 1 said he had been in America for about a year and a half.
Cornett then pulled out a handgun and shot a total of six times. Victim 1 was hit three times and Victim 2 was hit once. Both had serious injuries. Per court documents, Cornett then left the scene, returned home and told the two people he lived with about what happened.
When he was arrested the following day, Cornett admitted to the double shooting and said '[his] intentions were clear in [his] brain, at that time.'
'[Cornett] then described his anger at illegal immigration, telling the detective that he was 'pissed' about undocumented migrants receiving welfare funds, phones and health insurance, and that he had 'driven around before with the same thought,'' court documents state. '[He] later asked the detective whether he could be 'charged for [his] thoughts,' and went on to explain that he fantasized about flying an Apache helicopter gunship to the border and firing on undocumented migrants traveling into the United States in order 'to deter' other undocumented migrants from attempting to cross the border.'
Cornett's housemates also told detectives that he was 'kind of obsessed' with cable news stories about undocumented immigrants entering the United States.
Notably, neither victim was identified as an undocumented immigrant within court documents.
'Crimes like Douglas Cornett's — acts of hate-motivated violence — victimize not just the individual, but harm families, communities and groups by robbing them of their sense of security,' said Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a press release. 'Every person has a right to live free of the fear of violence and the menace of hate, and my office is committed to eliminating both.'
Cornett will be sentenced on Nov. 13. Per the terms of his plea agreement, he will receive no more than 24 years in prison.
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