Michigan man with arsenal of guns, knives and grenades pleads guilty to plotting LGBTQ mass killing
Hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community continue to rise in the US. (Canva)
Police have said a Michigan man armed with an “arsenal” of guns had concocted a “chilling” plot to murder LGBTQ+ people.
Investigators revealed that Mack Davis, 22, from Owosso, Michigan, “possessed two firearms, magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a crossbow and arrows, assorted bomb-making parts, smoke grenades, tactical gear and clothing and several knives, including one with ‘f****t killer’ inscribed on it.”
Davis faces life in federal prison after pleading guilty on Tuesday (17 December) to one count of committing a hate crime by attempting to carry out a mass killing.
Journal detailed plans for mass shooting
A journal written by Davis was also found during the search of his home, which detailed a year of his mass shooting plans and research on how to carry out the anti-LGBTQ+ atrocity.
Davis had also posted on social media about suspected targets, which included a political party office “filled with far-left liberal, f****t scum,” and “a f****t bar.”
He came to the police’s attention after he began hitting out at his gay neighbours. His torment of them included spray-painting a slur on their cars and “test-firing” 60 rounds into surrounding houses with a self-modified short-barrel rifle – illegal to own without registration.
‘Fanatical hatred of gay people’
US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Dawn N Ison, described Davis’ planning as chilling. “He intended to commit mass shootings at two locations, destroying countless lives and devastating our community, all because of his fanatical hatred for gay people,” she added.
And assistant US attorney general Kristen Clarke, from the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, said: “I applaud the work of law enforcement in disrupting this awful plot and arresting Davis before he could carry out his attacks. This kind of vile and heinous hate-fuelled violence, intended to target innocent people, based on their sexual orientation, runs contrary to our values as Americans.”
A sentencing hearing is yet to be scheduled.
FBI data revealed in September that hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity in 2023 had risen by more than 23 per cent compared with the previous 12 months.
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