Neo-Nazi could go away for years for firebombing a church for hosting a drag story hour

An Ohio neo-Nazi has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime charge for firebombing a church that was planning to host a pair of drag events.

Aimenn D. Penny, a 20-year-old member of an Ohio White Lives Matter group, submitted his plea on Monday, admitting to obstruction of persons in the free exercise of religious beliefs and arson. According to Cleveland.com, he will be sentenced on January 29 by U.S. District Judge Bridget Brennan and faces at least 10 years in prison, with up to 15 on the table.

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Penny admitted to throwing Molotov cocktails at the Community Church of Chesterland in Chester, Ohio on March 25. The attack, which left scorch marks on the church’s door, was allegedly in response to drag queen storytime events planned for April 1.

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His admission came during a March 31st search of his homes when he told FBI agents he threw the Molotov cocktail with the intent of burning down the church.

“Penny stated that he was trying to protect children and stop the drag show event,” according to a criminal complaint. “Penny described using bottles from his bedroom and detailed the ingredients and steps he used to build and use the devices. Penny stated that night, he became angrier after watching internet videos of news feeds and drag shows in France and decided to attack the church. Penny stated that he would have felt better if the Molotov cocktails were more effective and burned the entire church to the ground.”

According to the complaint, Penny was also observed distributing anti-drag flyers at another drag event on March 11 with other members of White Lives Matter Ohio who were shouting racial and homophobic slurs. They also carried a flag with a swastika on it and shouted, “Heil Hitler.”

“Open source searches revealed that individuals plan to be present and armed en masse at the [April 1] events to protest,” the document states.

In April, journalist Ford Fischer posted two videos of Penny yelling anti-LGBTQ+ slurs as part of a protest with White Lives Matter Ohio. In one video, Penny yells, “Fascism over fa***ts.” In another, he condemns LGBTQ+ people for “degeneracy.”