Man 'obsessed' with cable news who shot 2 Latino men because he was angry about 'migrants receiving welfare' learns his fate

A 58-year-old antheral successful Virginia who was "obsessed" with cablegram quality volition walk the remainder of his days down bars for pursuing and shooting 2 Latino men due to the fact that helium was "p—ed" astir amerciable immigration.

U.S. District Judge Roderick C. Young connected Thursday ordered Douglas Wayne Cornett to service a sentence of life successful national situation aft helium pleaded blameworthy to 2 national hatred transgression charges, each involving an effort to kill, and to discharging a firearm during a national transgression of violence.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the sentence Friday.

As Law&Crime previously reported, Cornett connected the evening of Feb. 28, 2024, near his location successful Spotsylvania equipped with a 9 mm handgun equipped with a 17-shot magazine. At astir 9 p.m., Cornett encountered a achromatic container motortruck connected Interstate 95 being driven by "Victim 1" and began honking. The unfortunate allowed Cornett to pass, but Cornett remained down the victim's vehicle, pursuing it arsenic the motortruck pulled disconnected the road and into a state station.

According to the transgression complaint, the unfortunate called a person who was adjacent and said helium was being followed by a van. The friend, besides an big Latino antheral referred to successful the papers arsenic "Victim 2," went to the aforesaid state presumption and asked Cornett wherefore helium was pursuing the container truck. Cornett, who had stopped astatine the state pump alongside the truck, responded by asking "how agelong Victim 1 had been successful the United States."

Victim 1 said helium had been successful the state astir "a twelvemonth and a half" and Cornett past "pulled retired the Sig Sauer P320 handgun and opened occurrence from his vehicle, discharging six rounds, 4 of which struck Victim 1 and Victim 2."

Victim 1 was changeable doubly successful the tummy and erstwhile successful the limb portion Victim 2 was changeable erstwhile successful the stomach. Cornett past drove location and informed his roommates that helium had conscionable changeable 2 men.

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Cornett was rapidly identified arsenic the shooter and arrested connected Feb. 29, 2024. Investigators said helium instantly admitted to shooting the men, telling national authorities, "my intentions were wide successful my brain, astatine the time," per the transgression complaint.

"Cornett past described his choler astatine amerciable immigration, telling the detective that helium was 'p—ed' astir undocumented migrants receiving payment funds, phones, and wellness insurance, and that helium had 'driven astir earlier with the aforesaid thought,'" tribunal documents state. "Cornett aboriginal asked the detective whether helium could beryllium 'charged for my thoughts,' and went connected to explicate that helium fantasized astir flying an Apache chopper gunship to the borderline and firing connected undocumented migrants traveling into the United States successful bid 'to deter' different undocumented migrants from attempting to transverse the border."

In an interrogation with investigators, Cornett's housemates said that helium was "a dense user of cablegram tv news" who "was benignant of obsessed by the quality that helium viewed regarding the introduction of non-citizens into the United States astatine the confederate border."

In summation to the beingness sentences for each of the hatred crimes, Young besides sentenced Cornett to 10 years connected the firearms charge, to beryllium served consecutively.