A fame-seeking white supremacist came to New York to kill black people in the “media capital of the world” — and took out his race rage on a 66-year-old can collector, police said Wednesday.
Army veteran James Harris Jackson, 28, took a Bolt Bus from Maryland on Friday to “target male blacks” in the city, said Assistant Chief William Aubry of Manhattan South Detectives.
He particularly didn’t like black men who were romantically involved with white women, sources said.
“The reason why he picked New York is because it is the media capital of the world,” Aubry said. “He wanted to make a statement.”
Jackson, who served in the Army for four years, identifies as a white supremacist and told police he penned a manifesto about his racist views, the police sources said.
That screed, Jackson told police, contains information about an imminent attack on blacks in New York.
He said it is saved on a computer seized by the NYPD, but cops need a search warrant to look at it, the sources said.
Jackson used a 26-inch mini-sword to repeatedly stab Timothy Caughman in the chest and back as he was digging through the trash near the corner of Ninth Avenue and West 36th Street at about 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to Aubry.
A witness told police of hearing Caughman yell, “What are you doing? Get off me!” and saw Jackson on top of him.
After the stabbing, Caughman stumbled into the Midtown South station house for help while Jackson cleaned the blood off himself in a restaurant restroom, sources said.
Caughman died at a hospital.
The attack was “random” and “clearly racially motivated,” Aubry said.
The well-dressed suspect turned himself in at an NYPD substation in Times Square shortly after midnight Wednesday — telling cops there he did so to avoid killing again, sources said.
Jackson, who was staying at The Hotel at Times Square on West 46th Street near Sixth Avenue, allegedly said he was set off by a black and white couple he had seen on the street.
“I’m the man you’re looking for,” Jackson told cops, adding he had knives in his pocket, according to Aubry.
The accused killer also told police he ditched a weapon in Washington Square Park, sources said.
Jackson was charged with murder Wednesday.
He said nothing as he was hauled out of the station house in handcuffs and a white Tyvek protective suit.
Earlier on Monday, the suspect was caught on surveillance video “stalking” another black man near the location of the attack, walking closely behind the person but not acting out, the sources said.
“In the hours leading up to this, he was just wandering around, contemplating, trying to work up the nerve to attack someone,” the source said.
On his Twitter profile, Caughman described himself as a “can and bottle recycler” and “autograph collector,” and posted series of photos of himself with celebrities.
He had been living in a transitional home on West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues.
Jackson had been deployed to Afghanistan and Germany during his career as a private in the Army, according to sources. He was honorably discharged in 2012.
Additional reporting by Daniel Prendergast and Lia Eustachewich