Kyle Christopher Benton, 29, was sentenced in district court to two years in prison for illegally possessing guns and using those weapons “to further his standing with various racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist groups and groups espousing white supremacy,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington stated on Thursday.
Benton, of Snohomish, Wash., located some 30 miles northeast of Seattle, was arrested in November for having “both unregistered, short-barrel rifles and machine guns, weapons capable of firing multiple rounds with a single trigger pull,” per the U.S. Justice Department.
“You not only illegally possessed extremely dangerous firearms, but you bragged about it and put on firearms training for others while doing so,” Tana Lin, a judge in the Western District of Washington, said during sentencing.
Per the Justice Department, the FBI investigated Benton after the U.S. Army discharged him and after he threatened to kill his wife.
“The investigation revealed Benton operated multiple social media accounts where he posted violent extremist content, neo-Nazi propaganda and antisemitic materials,” the department said.
He also took part in hate rallies in person in Oregon, Washington and Idaho “in furtherance of his white supremacist views,” the Justice Department said. “Drawing upon his military training and veteran status, he led workshops about firearms for various white supremacy groups.”
