A Michigan man pleaded guilty to planning a mass shooting at a political party headquarters and a nearby bar, both of which he associated with LGBTQ+ individuals, officials announced Tuesday.
Mack Davis, 22, admitted to one count of committing a hate crime for attempting to carry out the mass killings in Owosso, a town about 25 miles west of Flint. Davis faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
“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,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in the release. “Bias-motivated crimes targeting the LGBTQI+ community will not be tolerated. The Justice Department will continue using every tool at our disposal to protect communities from the scourge of hate-fueled violence by prosecuting those who carry out or attempt to carry out such crimes.”
Prosecutors said Davis spent months researching mass killings and writing about them in journals and on social media. Between July of last year and June of this year, when he was arrested on an unrelated charge, Davis compiled a list of weapons he owned and weapons he intended to acquire.
By the time of his arrest, authorities said Davis had amassed an arsenal that included two firearms, magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a crossbow and arrows, bomb-making components, smoke grenades, tactical gear, and several knives. One knife was reportedly inscribed with an anti-gay slur.
Between April and June, Davis posted on social media about plans to open fire at a local political party headquarters and a nearby bar. Using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs in his posts, Davis referred to the two locations as “targets,” according to the Justice Department.
He also allegedly vandalized vehicles belonging to neighbors he believed to be gay, spray-painting slurs and test-firing a firearm at several properties, including the vehicles.
Davis was arrested in June following the shooting incidents and has been in custody since. Sentencing for the foiled mass attack is pending.
“Davis’ plans were 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,” U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison of the Eastern District of Michigan said. “I applaud the work of law enforcement in disrupting this awful plot and arresting Davis before he could carry out his planned attacks.”
Bryan Sherer, Davis’ attorney, said his client is “just twenty-two years old and vulnerable,” adding that Davis had no prior history of violence and that there was no definitive proof Davis would have carried out the attacks.
The case highlights the ongoing threat of hate-motivated violence against LGBTQ+ individuals. Several high-profile mass shootings have occurred at LGBTQ+ venues in recent years, including the 2016 attack at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which left 49 dead, and the 2020 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that resulted in five deaths and 17 injuries.
