A southwestern Montana man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after being convicted of a hate crime and firearms charges for threatening a woman with violent, homophobic slurs and shooting at her house with an assault rifle as part of a self-described “mission” to rid a small town of its LGBTQ community. John Russell Howald of Basin was sentenced Tuesday in Great Falls. Prosecutors say Howald shot into the house of a woman who is lesbian, then headed into town intending to target others he perceived as homosexual. Local residents who were leaving church that morning and knew Howald stalled him long enough for a sheriff's deputy to respond. Howald's attorney plans an appeal.
  •  dope   ( @dope@beehaw.org ) 
    34•1 year ago

    Defense attorney Colin Stephens told jurors that Howald had peacefully co-existed with the gay and lesbian community in Basin for decades. Howald testified that he is gay. “At his core, Howald is not a crusading bigot, who is hell bent for leather on wiping lesbians from the Earth,” Stephens said in his sentencing memo.

    You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Self-hatred being projected onto innocent people who just want to live their lives.

    In 2006, Howald was sentenced to two years in prison for felony aggravated animal cruelty, after pleading guilty to shooting a chocolate Labrador at a southwestern Montana campground and decapitating the dog with a chain saw.

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