(WWJ) — A young Mid-Michigan man could spend the rest of his life behind bars after allegedly plotting to carry out a mass killing targeting a political party headquarters and a gay bar.
Mack Davis of Owosso pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of committing a hate crime by attempting to carry out a mass killing, according to the office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Dawn Ison.
Ison’s office says the 22-year-old had “amassed an arsenal” of firearms, ammunition and bombmaking parts that he “intended to use to carry out the mass killing of gay people.”
“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,” Ison said, per a press release.
Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office, said Davis “confessed to devising a plan motivated by his deep-seated hatred, targeting innocent individuals associated with the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, Flint Resident Agency, the Owosso Police Department, ATF and Michigan State Police. Gibson said the agencies’ collective action “disrupted a serious threat and reaffirmed our commitment to protecting vulnerable communities from harm.”
From at least July 2023 through June 2024, according to Ison’s office, Davis used search engines and social media sites to “research, post about, and pay tribute to mass killers.” Officials say he wrote about dozens of mass killers in journals and on other items in his home.
Over the course of that year, Davis “began to plot his own mass killing, by, among other things, drafting lists of weapons and tactical gear he owned and intended to acquire for use in his mass killing.”
By this June, Davis had crossed off every item on the list of weapons and tactical gear that he had intended to acquire, and had “amassed an arsenal” that included two firearms, magazines, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a crossbow and arrows, assorted bomb-making parts, smoke grenades, tactical gear and clothing and several knives, Ison’s office said.
Davis inscribed one of the knives with the anti-gay slur, “F****T Killer,” according to the attorney’s office.
From April through June, Davis “solidified his plan to commit the mass killing.” Among other acts, Davis posted on social media that he intended to commit a mass killing at a political party headquarters, which he referred to as “Location 1.” The attorney’s office says Davis wrote the headquarters was “filled with far-left liberal, f****t scum.”
According to Ison’s office, Davis wrote that he would “continue the mass killing at ‘Location 2,’” a nearby bar that he referred to as “a f****t bar.”
Davis researched both locations online, conducted physical surveillance of both locations and posted about his research and surveillance on the social media site, according to Ison’s office.
The U.S. Attorney’s office did not identify the bar or the political party headquarters Davis had targeted, but the Lansing State Journal reports it was the Shiawassee County Democratic Party headquarters on M-21 (Main Street) in Owosso, and a nearby bar called the Rainbow Bar, also on M-21 in Owosso — roughly halfway between Flint and Lansing.
Also between July 2023 and June 2024, authorities say Davis vandalized two cars that belonged to his neighbors, whom he knew to be gay, by spray-painting the word “f*g” on one of the cars.
Days later, Davis also test-fired one of his firearms — an illegal short-barreled rifle — by firing about 60 bullets into several of his neighbors’ properties, including one of the cars that he had previously vandalized, officials said.
The Owosso Police Department arrested Davis for that shooting. He was later transferred to federal custody, where he has remained since.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled for a later date. Because Davis’s hate crime involved an attempt to kill, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.