Man gets 18 years in prison for shooting, mission to ‘clean’ Montana town of LGBTQ residents

PHIL DRAKE Helena Independent Record

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 AK-47 assault rifle as part of a self-described “mission” to “clean” the small town of its LGBTQ community.

John Russell Howald, 46, was convicted in February and sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls for the March 2020 shooting.

He received eight years for one count of committing a hate crime and 10 years for discharging a firearm in relation to a violent crime. The judge ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.

A federal jury in U.S. District Court in Helena on Feb. 17 found Howald guilty of hate and firearms crimes.

Howald was charged with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and for using a firearm during the shooting. The jury reached its verdict in 72 minutes, according to court records. 

His attorney, Colin M. Stephens, noted in a June 6 sentencing memorandum that up until the day of the shooting, Howald had peacefully co-existed with the gay and lesbian community in Basin for decades.

<p>John Russell Howald</p>

“Whatever this court may think of him, Howald is not Omar Maateen, who killed 49 people and wounded 52 more at a gay nightclub,” Stephens argued. “At his core, Howald is not a crusading bigot, who is hell bent for leather on wiping lesbians from the Earth. The court heard what he said that day, but the context of Howald’s words matter as much as the actions that accompany them.”

Howald is already in Montana State Prison, serving 10 years on a state charge for criminal endangerment that occurred during the same incident. 

His indictment in June 2021 was part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s increased enforcement of hate crimes under U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The indictment said Howald tried to injure a woman because of her “actual and perceived sexual orientation” by firing several rounds from his AK-47 rifle into her home in the community of about 270 residents, stating that he wanted to “get rid of the lesbians (and) gays.” 

No one was injured in the shooting. The woman was in the shower at the time and was not struck by bullets, some of which went into the walls of her home. She testified a deputy told her of the shooter’s intent.

After shooting into the house, prosecutors said Howald started walking into the town of Basin to target others he perceived to be lesbian, queer and gay, prosecutors said. He was armed with two assault rifles, a hunting rifle, two pistols and multiple high-capacity magazines that were taped together to speed reloading, court records said.

A cellphone audio recording, accidentally made by a minister, has Howald saying shortly after he fired the rifle that “I want to clean this town of its sickness.”

Local residents who were leaving church that Sunday and knew Howald were able to stall him long enough for a sheriff’s deputy to respond. When the deputy arrived, Howald pointed the assault rifle at him, nearly starting a shootout. Howald then fled into the hills and spent the night sleeping in the woods, court records said.

Officers arrested Howald the next day. The weapons and ammunition were discovered in searches of his car and camper, prosecutors said.

Howald testified he was under great stress and anguish at the time due to COVID-19 and the death of close relatives, and had hoped his actions would bring law enforcement to the scene and lead to suicide by cop.

A prosecuting attorney dismissed Howald’s claims, saying his goal was to clean the town of gays and lesbians.

He said Howald may have wanted to die, “but he wanted the cleaning of filth to be the last thing he’d do,” Ethan Plaut of the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“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,” U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich for the District of Montana said in a statement.

“It is the kind of conduct that has no place in Montana, which is why our office vigorously prosecuted Howald and why the justice system is holding him accountable for his actions,” Laslovich said. “Our office has an unshakable commitment to uphold the rule of law and protect the civil rights of all Montanans, including our LGBTQI+ friends and family members.”

Howald had hoped his planned shooting would inspire similar attacks around the country, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark said in a statement Wednesday.

Stephens said Wednesday that he plans to appeal.

Howald was sentenced to two years in prison for killing a chocolate Labrador in 2005 at a southwestern Montana campground. He severed the dog’s head with a chainsaw, then confronted the dog’s owners and threw the head at them, according to court documents.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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