Howald

I. BACKGROUND

A. Howald’s Hateful Attack On March 22, 2020, Howald decided, in his words, to “rid” his hometown of Basin, Montana, “of the fucking lesbians . . . [and] queers.” To carry out this “mission,” he armed himself with three semi-automatic rifles and fired at least seven shots at the house of a local woman. He then left the house and pronounced that “he was going to clean up the town once and for all” of the “lesbians and gays and people that do bad”; that he “just may have fucking killed a lesbian, I hope”; and that “they’re gonna die, they’re gonna leave, and it’s gonna be awesome again.” An officer arrived, drew his weapon, and ordered Howald to drop his rifles. Howald refused and, when the officer retreated to his vehicle, left the scene. The next day, law enforcement arrested Howald and, in the following days and weeks, searched his vehicle and camper. They found several firearms, including the rifle used in the shooting. During a search of the victim’s home, officers recovered spent rounds from the rifle and located bullet holes in her fence, yard, deck, and house. Though one of Howald’s bullets reached the living room, fortunately, no one was physically injured in…