Crime & Safety
FL Man Who Threatened Racially Motivated Shooting Sentenced To Prison: U.S. DOJ
A Sarasota County man was sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of an unregistered gun, the U.S. DOJ said.
VENICE, FL — A Sarasota County man who threatened a racially motivated mass shooting was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison for possession of an unregistered firearm, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Alexander Lightner, 27, of Venice pleaded guilty to the charge on March 11.
Lightner is a member of the Terrorgram Collective, “an online organization that promotes the belief that the white race is superior, and that violence and terrorism are necessary to ignite a race war and accelerate the collapse of the government and the rise of a white ethnostate,” the DOJ said.
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He made several posts in an exclusive Terrogram chat on Dec. 29, 2023, about his intention to commit violent acts motivated by far-right extremist ideology, the department said.
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Among his comments, he wrote, “2024 there shall be saints,” and “Highscore shall be defeated.”
“The term ‘saints’ refers to a trend within white supremacist online circles where individuals who have committed severe acts of violence motivated by hate are venerated as saints,” according to the DOJ. “The phrase ‘Highscore shall be defeated’ refers to a future attack by a white supremacist that will generate a number of casualties surpassing that of previous attacks.”
Federal agents searched Lightner’s home a week after he made these threats. They found a firearm silencer, several guns, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a copy of “Mein Kampf,” Adolf Hitler’s autobiographical manifesto.
Agents also found extremist literature with detailed descriptions of mass shooting events and praise for historical white supremacist mass murders, the DOJ said.
When interviewed by law enforcement, Lightner admitted that the firearm silencer was his and he had made it himself. He also confessed to making the threatening posts
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