Self-described 'incel' pleads guilty to plotting mass shooting of women
10/12/2022 1:17 pm PDT
HIGHLAND COUNTY, Ohio (TCD) -- A man recently pleaded guilty to plotting a mass shooting of women at an Ohio university.
According to a news release from the Department of Justice, Tres Genco identified as an "incel," or "involuntary celibate," which is an online movement comprising mostly men who discuss their hatred of women. Genco reportedly used a popular incel website from around July 2019 through mid-March 2020, where he posted "hundreds of times."
In one instance, the Department of Justice said Genco posted about spraying "some foids and couples with orange juice in a water gun." The term "foids" is short for "femoids," which is an incel term for women.
According to the Department of Justice, in the post, Genco compared himself to Elliot Rodger, the man who killed six people and injured 14 others in 2014 outside a University of California, Santa Barbara, sorority house. Before the mass shooting, Rodger shot a group of college students with orange juice.
In a manifesto, the Department of Justice said Genco stated he would "slaughter" women "out of hatred, jealousy and revenge," proclaiming that the deaths would be the "great equalizer."
According to the Department of Justice, authorities found a note Genco wrote indicating that he wanted to "aim big" and kill 3,000 people, and he referenced the same date as Rodger’s attack near the University of California, Santa Barbara. In the note, he reportedly claimed he intended to go through military training. The same day Genco wrote the manifesto, he searched various sororities and a university in Ohio online, according to the Department of Justice.
In 2019, Genco bought multiple supplies and gear, including tactical gloves, a bulletproof vest, cargo pants, a bowie knife, a skull face mask, two Glock 17 magazines, a 9 mm Glock 17 clip, and a holster clip concealed carry for a Glock, the Department of Justice said. Genco reportedly went to Army Basic Training in Georgia for several months in 2019 but was discharged.
Nearly a month after being discharged, the Department of Justice said Genco wrote a document he titled "isolated." He reportedly signed the document, "Your hopeful friend and murderer."
On Jan. 15, 2020, Genco surveilled a university in Ohio and did an online search for "planning a shooting crime" and "when does preparing for a crime become an attempt?" according to the Department of Justice.
Deputies with the Highland County Sheriff’s Office responded to Genco’s home on March 12, 2020, and found a firearm, a bump stock attached, several loaded magazines, body armor, and boxes of ammunition in the trunk of his car, the Department of Justice said.
During a search of his residence, authorities reportedly found a modified Glock-style 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, with no manufacturer’s marks or serial number. Genco was arrested in July 2021 and remains in custody, records show.
On Tuesday, Oct. 11, the Department of Justice announced that Genco pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to commit a hate crime. Since Genco intended to kill, the charge is reportedly punishable by up to life in prison.
In a statement, Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio said, "Hate has no place in our country — including gender-based hate — and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously prosecute any such conduct."
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