1 month ago
A man linked to achromatic supremacist movements pleaded blameworthy connected Monday to mounting a occurrence that destroyed an agency astatine a historical societal justness halfway successful Tennessee pinch ties to champions of nan US civilian authorities movements, a tribunal archive shows.
Regan Prater besides pleaded blameworthy to attempting to assistance a overseas violent statement for efforts to supply nan militant group Hezbollah “a database of personally identifiable accusation for individuals purportedly affiliated pinch nan authorities of Israel”, according to a criminal accusation revenge successful February.
Sentencing is scheduled for 9 September successful Knoxville.
A nationalist defender representing Prater did not instantly respond to an email and telephone connection requesting comment.
Prater was arrested successful April 2025 successful relationship pinch nan arson astatine nan Highlander Research and Education Center successful New Market. The apprehension came much than six years aft nan March 2019 blaze, which caused much than $1.2m successful damage, prosecutors say.
An affidavit revenge successful national tribunal successful eastbound Tennessee said Prater’s posts successful respective group chats affiliated pinch achromatic supremacist organizations connected him to nan crime. In 1 backstage message, a witnesser who sent screenshots to nan FBI asked a personification authorities judge was Prater whether he group nan fire.
“I’m not admitting anything,” nan personification utilizing nan surface sanction “Rooster” wrote. But he later went connected to picture precisely really nan occurrence was group pinch “a sparkler explosive and immoderate Napalm”.
A white-power awesome was spray-painted connected nan pavement adjacent nan tract of nan fire. The affidavit describes it arsenic a “triple cross” and says it was besides recovered connected 1 of nan firearms utilized by a shooter who killed 51 group astatine mosques successful Christchurch, New Zealand, connected 15 March 2019, astir 2 weeks earlier nan Highlander fire.
Prater was initially charged pinch 1 count of arson. On Monday, nan erstwhile indictment was dismissed successful favour of nan criminal accusation – revenge successful February – which included nan complaint related to nan Lebanese group Hezbollah.
In a plea statement revenge nan pursuing time successful February, nan authorities agreed that a condemnation of nary much than 20 years was appropriate.
Prater was antecedently sentenced to 5 years successful national situation for mounting a occurrence successful June 2019 astatine an big video and novelty shop successful eastbound Tennessee. He pleaded blameworthy and was ordered to salary $106,000 successful restitution successful that case.
At nan segment of that fire, investigators recovered a cellphone they later wished belonged to Prater. The telephone included a short video showing a personification wrong nan shop lighting an accelerant, according to nan affidavit.
Highlander is known arsenic a spot wherever civilian authorities figures including Rosa Parks and John Lewis received training. Parks attended a shop location connected integration successful 1955, astir six months earlier she famously refused to move to nan backmost of a autobus successful Montgomery, Alabama. She ever credited Highlander pinch helping her go a much wished activist.
Parks returned to Highlander 2 years later pinch nan Rev Martin Luther King Jr for nan school’s 25th day celebration. On that occasion, King gave a keynote reside connected achieving state and equality done nonviolence.
The blaze astatine Highlander collapsed retired successful nan early greeting of 29 March 2019. No 1 was injured, but decades’ worthy of irreplaceable documents were lost. They included artifacts, speeches and different materials from different eras, including from nan US civilian authorities movement.
