18 Years At Hard Time.

That is what he got for fire bombing a church that was having a drag show.

Ohio man gets 18 years for firebombing church over drag shows
Columbus Dispatch
By Benjamin Duer
January 30, 2024

Aimenn D. Penny didn't apologize for firebombing a Geauga County church last year.

Instead, he justified sacrificing his future for hate.

The 20-year-old, standing calmly in an orange prison jumpsuit during his sentencing hearing Monday in U.S. District Court, maintained his attack was a protest against the LGBTQ+ community and drag shows, an effort "to protect children." He said he does not believe men should dress as women or vice versa.

"Especially in a place of worship," Penny said. "I didn't hurt anyone."

Except, he did - the judge and victims said.

U.S. District Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan sentenced Penny to 18 years in federal prison for the March 25 attack and ordered him to pay $10,507 in restitution to the church, to undergo mental health treatment and to serve three years supervised probation after his release.

He was found guilty in October of arson and obstruction charges. U.S. attorney Rebecca Lutzko had recommended a 20-years prison term.

No bias crime charges. Why? By his own statement it was a crime of bias.

Penny, a member of the extremist groups White Lives Matter Ohio and the Blood Tribe, told FBI agents that he threw two gasoline-filled bottles, often called Molotov cocktails, at the Community Church of Chesterland around 1 a.m. on March 25. It left minimal structural damage.

The attack was aimed at intimidating the church and preventing two planned drag show events there.

To me that sound definitely a bias crime.

According to court filing in the case, FBI agents in April obtained letters and a manifesto Penny wrote while in jail. He showed no remorse, only pride. His only regret? "The church didn't burn down to the ground."

“You still don’t show any remorse and you’re nodding your head," Brennan told Penny.

Law and Crime reported back in the spring that…

A “White Lives Matter” member previously arrested for allegedly throwing homemade firebombs at a church over plans to host a drag story hour has been formally charged with a hate crime and other federal felonies.

[...]

The church, a United Church of Christ affiliate that bills itself as “an Open and Affirming Church” where people “previously excluded” from places of worship “can safely gather to fight for social justice and human rights issues,” was set to host two drag show events on April 1, according to the affidavit.

[…]

“Penny stated that he would have felt better if the Molotov cocktails were more effective and burned the entire church to the ground,” the affidavit says.

Penny is charged with violating the Church Arson Prevention Act and malicious use of explosive materials, both of which carry a minimum of five years and maximum of 20 years in prison, according to a Justice Department press release. He is also charged with using fire to commit a federal felony, which carries a 10-year mandatory prison sentence, and possession of a destructive device, which carries up to 10 years behind bars.

[…]

The complaint also details how Penny apparently believed that “African Americans were solely responsible for the high crime rate across the country,” and he “believes — and looks forward to — the civil war coming between races.”

As Law&Crime previously reported, federal authorities say they found a Nazi flag, a White Lives Matter of Ohio T-shirt, and other hateful memorabilia in Penny’s home, along with a gas mask, multiple rolls of blue painter’s tape, and gas cans.

It sounds like it was a plea bargain, that he pleaded guilty to one charge and the others were dropped.

---

Meanwhile down in Maryland…

Man sentenced to 48 years in killing of Black transgender woman in Md.
DeAllen Price has been sentenced in the murder of Taya Ashton, a 20-year-old trans woman, in Prince George’s County
The Washington Post
By Jasmine Hilton
January 24, 2024

A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to 48 years in prison for the murder of a transgender woman he was in a relationship with in 2021 in Prince George’s County.

DeAllen Price fatally shot Taya Ashton in her apartment in Suitland, Md., on July 17, 2021, after he learned that Ashton was not born female, prosecutors said.

Price, of Capitol Heights, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence in October. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy described Ashton, 20, as a “daughter and a beloved friend to many.”

“Taya’s death was a real tragedy for our community, as well as for her family. Her death represents so much more, in terms of our level of tolerance in our community for people who want to express themselves and live their lives on their own terms,” Braveboy said when announcing the sentence against Price on Wednesday. “Anyone who chooses to do that should be respected and [know] that their lives are as valuable as anyone else’s life.”

Here in Connecticut we have banned the “Trans Panic” defense.

Public Act No. 19-27: AN ACT CONCERNING GAY AND TRANSGENDER PANIC DEFENSE.

(2) No defendant may claim as a defense under this section that such mental disease or defect was based solely on the discovery of, knowledge about or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or
perceived sex, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, including under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted, nonforcible, romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant, or if the defendant and victim dated or had a romantic relationship.