Dec. 18 (UPI) — A Michigan man pleaded guilty to plotting a mass shooting at a local bar and Democratic Party office over his hatred for gay people after a string of other related charges, according to court documents.
Mack Davis, 22, of Owosso, pleaded guilty to a single count of committing a hate crime, according to a release Tuesday by the U.S. Justice Department. He faces a maximum penalty of life in a federal prison. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
“This kind of vile and heinous hate-fueled violence, intended to target innocent people based on their sexual orientation, runs contrary to our values as Americans,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
The local Owosso police previously had arrested Davis in connection to separate incidents. It’s alleged he fired 60 bullets from a rifle into the property of several neighbors and vandalized the car of a neighbor he knew to be gay. He then was transferred to federal custody, where he remains.
Authorities said Davis attempted to carry out a mass killing at the Shiawassee County Democratic Party headquarters on Main Street in Owosso and then at the nearby Rainbow Bar because he associated both spots with gay people.
According to officials, Davis researched both locations online and conducted physical surveillance and posted about his findings on social media. Authorities say Davis managed to methodically amass a sizable arsenal of firearms, rounds of ammunition and bomb-making parts and inscribed one of the knives with an anti-gay slur.
Davis initially was indicted on the string of other charges and faces up to 14 years in prison and five years of supervised release related to that, according to a plea agreement reported Monday by Lansing State Journal.
A top Michigan law enforcement official for the DOJ called the plans devised by Davis 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,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for Michigan’s Eastern District.
Davis utilized search engines and social media sites to research, post on and pay tribute to infamous mass killers from July 2023 and June 2024 a number of times. And he wrote about dozens of them in journals and on other items at his residence, according to court documents.
His weaponry came to include two firearms, magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a crossbow and arrows, assorted bomb-making parts, smoke grenades, tactical gear and clothing and a handful of knives.
His guilty plea comes after an FBI crime report in September indicated that, in 2023, the number of hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ+ community had increased to 2,402 recorded incidents, up from 1,947 in 2022.
The public should take note, said one FBI agent.
“This case serves as a stark reminder that there is no tolerance for hate-fueled violence,” wrote Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson in Detroit.
The plea came on the week of the 51st anniversary of the American Psychiatric Association’s reversal of its position that declared homosexuality was a mental illness.
A recent study revealed that although there remains a supermajority level of acceptance for LGBTQ people in the United States, data by GLAAD suggests that toxic views and actions expressed this year and last are slowly having an effect on Americans.