SALEM — A Salem man was sentenced in federal court for the unlawful possession of machine guns.
Kyle Morris, 23, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release.
Morris was also ordered to pay a fine of $1,000.
On January 17, 2023, Morris pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of machine guns.
He was ordered to forfeit to the government the two machine guns seized during the execution of the search warrant at his home.
“The defendant expressed an interest in perpetrating horrific acts of violence against racial and religious minorities,” said U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young. “Those beliefs coupled with his illegal possession of machine guns pose a danger to our communities and today’s sentence sends a clear message that such conduct will result in not only a felony conviction but in incarceration.”
Morris kept the machine guns in a locked gun room in his home.
This locked room also contained over 20 other firearms and various Nazi paraphernalia, including a Nazi uniform, two Nazi flags, and a framed photo of Adolf Hitler.
In private correspondence, he advocated for bombing mosques, synagogues, and diversity centers, and for starting a race war.
He expressed an interest in participating in lone wolf attacks in Massachusetts involving shootings in Lawrence, culminating in a plan to drive a truck bomb into the Massachusetts State House.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and New Hampshire State Police led the investigation.
