Image via police.
A Montana man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for shooting into the home of a queer woman while in the middle of a “self-described mission to rid the town of Basin of its lesbian, queer and gay community.” In March 2020, John Russell Howald, of Basin, armed himself to the teeth and set out on a mission to “clean” the town of LGBTQ people. “Howald walked to the first victim’s residence and fired multiple rounds from an AK-style rifle into her property and home, all because of his belief regarding her sexual orientation,” reads the Department of Justice’s news release on the sentencing. “Hoping he had killed her, Howald set off toward other houses occupied by people who identify as lesbian, queer or gay.” On his way to dole out more violence, Howald was intercepted by people who knew the man and were leaving a nearby church. These people distracted Howald long enough for the local police to arrive. As he spewed hate about the LGBTQ community, Howald pointed his weapon at a responding officer “nearly starting a shootout,” according to court documents, and fled to the woods. He was arrested the next day. Shortly after shooting the home, Howald called his minister and told him that he wanted to “clean the town of its sickness.” In a cell phone video recorded by a bystander Howald can be heard saying he “might have killed a fucking lesbian, I hope” and that “they are going to die, they are going to leave, and it's gonna be awesome again.” Like other aspiring mass shooters, Howald was hoping to inspire others to carry out similar actions following his. According to court documents, Howald was armed to the teeth as he sought to carry out his violence. With him, he had two assault rifles, a hunting rifle, two pistols, and multiple high-capacity magazines that he had modified to make it easier to reload. U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana said in a statement that the situation could have easily been worse. “Howald fired multiple shots into someone’s home based solely on her sexual orientation and only the heroic and brave actions of residents and law enforcement, as well as some good fortune, prevented a targeted mass shooting,” said U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana. Violence and extreme rhetoric against the LGBTQ community is on the rise across the globe. In the United States, a massive effort to target people for their sexual and gender identity is well underway and being aided by Republican lawmakers. Drag shows are routinely met with violent and hateful protests, books teaching anything about gender or sexuality have been banned in many areas across the States, hospitals giving care to trans youth have been targeted with bomb threats, and mass violence has been perpetrated against the community. “Motivated by hatred of the LGBTQI+ community and armed with multiple firearms and high-capacity magazines, this defendant sought to intimidate - even terrorize – an entire community by shooting into the victim’s home trying to kill her for no reason other than her sexual orientation,” said ATF Director Steven Dettelbach in a statement. Howald’s attorney told local media that his client is not a “crusading bigot, who is hell bent for leather on wiping lesbians from the Earth” and they will be filing an appeal. According to the Independent Record, Howald and his defense attorney testified that he was not a bigot and that he had come out as gay to his brother seven years ago. At one point they stated that Howland was upset that his mother had told people he was gay after discovering G-strings in his laundry. He testified that the death of family members and the COVID pandemic pushed him to a point where he was hoping to commit suicide by cop. Howald had previously been convicted for shooting a black lab, decapitating it with a chainsaw, and then throwing the head at the dog’s owners. A jury found Howald guilty in February of both firearm and hate crime laws and he was sentenced earlier in the week.
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