White Louisiana man to be charged with murder of two black men in 'possible hate crime'

Police in Louisiana have arrested a 23-year-old man they plan to charge with the murder of two black men and firing at a black family.

Officers in Baton Rouge detained Kenneth Gleason and led him away in handcuffs. They said he would be charged over the shooting deaths last week of a homeless man and dishwasher who was making his way to work.

The Associated Press said they had found a copy of a speech by Adolf Hitler in the suspect’s home. It was not immediately clear if the suspect had been given the chance to enter a plea.

“I feel confident that this killer would have killed again,” said interim Police Chief Jonny Dunnam.

Mr Gleason was arrested last week following the killings of 59-year-old Bruce Cofield and 49-year-old Donald Smart, the shootings taking place about five miles apart. Mr Cofield, who was homeless, was shot last Tuesday and Mr Smart was shot on Thursday as he was walking to work at a cafe said to be popular with Louisiana State University students.

Reports said the two men were both killed in a similar fashion. A gunman shot at the men from a vehicle, then got out, approached them and shot them at close range multiple times.

Asked whether police suspect race was a motive for the shootings, Sgt L’Jean McKneely told the news agency: “We’re not completely closed off to that. We’re looking at all possibilities at this time, so we’re not going to just pinpoint that.”

District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office could seek the death penalty if Mr Gleason was found guilty.

“It appears to be cold, calculated, planned [against] people who were unarmed and defenceless,” he said. “We don’t need to prove motive. There are a lot of things that are unanswered.”