Caroline County, Virginia - A Virginia man recently pleaded guilty to hate crime charges after he shot two Latino men over his "anger at illegal immigration."

According to a recent press release from the Department of Justice, Douglas Wayne Cornett (58) of Ruther Glen, Virginia, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to two federal hate crimes involving attempts to kill, and one count of discharging a firearm during a federal crime of violence.

On February 28, 2024, Cornett allegedly followed a box truck driven by an adult Latino male – identified in court documents as OG – to a Sheetz gas station along Interstate 95 in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.

As OG did not speak English, Cornett questioned the man's friend – identified as JM – about how long OG had been in the country.

Upon learning the man had only been in the US for around two years, Cornett drew a handgun and fired six rounds, striking OG three times and JM once.

Law enforcement and paramedics quickly arrived to treat both men, who were notably not identified as being undocumented in court documents. Cornett, who fled the scene, was arrested the following day at his home, where authorities found the gun, ammunition, and several Confederate flags.

Cornett later told detectives that his "intentions were clear in [his] brain, at that time" and detailed how he was "'pissed' about undocumented migrants receiving welfare funds, phones, and health insurance."

He also shared that he had "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."

The stunning hate crime came as Donald Trump was running for re-election and made his promise to implement a massive deportation effort a hallmark of his campaign.

Throughout the election, Trump regularly used charged language to demonize Black and brown immigrant communities, insisting they were mostly made up of "murderers and rapists" and arguing they were "poisoning the blood of our country."

Cornett, who faces a mandatory 10-year sentence on the firearms violation and a maximum sentence of life in prison for the hate crime charges, will face his final sentencing hearing on November 13.