A South Carolina man accused of planning an attack « in the spirit of Dylann Roof » pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in federal court Monday.
Feb. 26 (UPI) — A South Carolina man accused of planning an attack « in the spirit of Dylann Roof » pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in federal court Monday.
Benjamin Thomas Samuel McDowell, 30, of Conway, S. C., pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
McDowell served 18 months in prison for a felony second-degree burglary conviction in 2011 and was arrested by the FBI after illegally purchasing a handgun from an undercover agent.
Prosecutors said in a federal court filing that McDowell was plotting an attack on the Temple Emanu-El Conservative Synagogue in Myrtle Beach and wanted to spray paint « in the spirit of Dylann Roof » on the building after the attack, as an ode to the massacre Roof carried out inside a black church that killed nine people in Charleston in 2015.
During meetings with the undercover FBI agent, McDowell expressed hatred for Jews and non-whites and « voiced apparent frustration with other white supremacists, stating that screaming ‘white power’ was not getting the job done. »
He bought a .40-caliber Glock with a filed-down firing pin and hollow-point ammunition after saying he wanted to get off « scot-free » for the attack and was arrested in a Myrtle Beach hotel the same day.
