Yellowstone shooter spewed racial slur before planned July 4 attack: Prosecutors

A Florida man who authorities say planned a mass shooting in Yellowstone National Park over the summer made racist comments before the attack, according to a federal court filing obtained by USA TODAY on Wednesday.

The document, filed in U.S. District Court in Wyoming on Friday, names the 28-year-old Samson Lucas Baria Fusner Milton, Florida as the sole perpetrator of the July 3rd and 4th Wyoming Park Canyon Village hostage situation and the attempted mass shooting at a fireworks display just a couple of miles from the park in West Yellowstone, Montana. .

According to the complaint filed on July 3, around 10 p.m. on July 3, Fussner allegedly held a woman he was obsessed with captive in her room at the Grizzly Dorm in Canyon Village for two hours. U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wyoming.

While there, he made “inflammatory comments about immigrants, African Americans and Jews, including how they negatively affect the country.”

The next day, the Park County Sheriff’s Office says Fussner was firing a semi-automatic rifle toward a restaurant in Canyon Village when Yellowstone rangers confronted him. Fussner was killed in a firefight that left one ranger wounded. Authorities found additional firearms, magazines and ammunition in Fuessner’s vehicle.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy Gross said in a new statement that Fussner possessed the weapon with the intent to “plan, commit, or conceal a federal crime of terrorism.”

Prosecutor’s office: the suspect had “plans of violence against white nationalists”

In accordance with National Park Service.

According to prosecutors, Fussner began planning the attack around July 1. He had a history of “expressing white supremacist and anti-Semitic views,” they wrote in the statement. He was also an active member of the white supremacist Vanguard News Network. website.

In the March 16 post, Fussner said he was “on the verge of a breakdown,” that he was depressed, lonely and suffering from mental anguish. He wrote that he wanted to get a seasonal job in a “nice white mountain area or state park” and meet a variety of white people.

“If I still can’t make something out of this experience, I look forward to seeing me on the news someday,” he wrote.

He also texted his brother about setting up a mass shooting in an area with fireworks because people there would be “easy targets.” His brother replied, “Yes, maybe. Are fireworks allowed in Yellowstone?”

The next day, he texted his brother complaining about Jews, Asians, and Hispanics.

On July 4, the shooter was obsessed with the woman he was holding hostage: Document

On the afternoon of July 2, Fussner texted his brother about the woman he later took hostage, saying he was obsessed with her and how she looked, court documents show.

The next day around 9:40 p.m., he went to her dorm room, where she told him she was not romantically interested in him. He left but returned about 20 minutes later, knocking on her door and bursting into her room when she answered. According to the prosecutor, he threatened her with a knife and a gun.

While Fussner held the victim hostage, he “spoke about his mental health issues, his racist views and his plans to carry out a mass shooting in the employee cafeteria at Canyon Lodge and a fireworks display in West Yellowstone, Montana,” court documents state .

Later, the victim’s roommate returned to their room. That’s when Fussner allegedly hid the gun under his arm so the roommate wouldn’t see it. When the roommate went to shower, Fussner told the victim that if the police came for him, he would come back. He then left, allowing the woman to call security and tell them what he had done and said about his plans for a mass shooting.

The next day, Fuessner was killed in a shootout with several park rangers, prompting an investigation by the National Park Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local authorities.

Thanks to agency policythe rangers involved in the incident were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Contributed by Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY

Saline Martin is a reporter for the USA TODAY NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or write to her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Yellowstone shooter spews racial slurs before planned attack: Feds