NY man killed for being black

Timothy Caughman, an Army veteran, was pretty proud of himself on Election Day, getting up early to stand in a fairly long line for the privilege of voting. God bless America.

Mr. Caughman is dead because he’s black.

The Daily News says he was killed on Tuesday night by a white supremacist — James Jackson, 28 — who “wanted maximum exposure for his crime, telling investigators he rode 200 miles on a bus from Baltimore because New York is the ‘media capital of the world.’”

James Harris Jackson is led out of a police precinct in New York. Photo: Seth Wenig | Associated Press.

“Now it’s our collective responsibility to speak clearly and forcefully in the face of intolerance and violence — here or across the country,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “We are a safe city because we are inclusive. We are a nation of unrivaled strength because we are diverse. No act of violence can undermine who we are.”

Which leads to the obvious question: Who are we?

Related: A Man Who Hated Black Men Found a Victim Who Cared for Others (NY Times)