A Montana man who fired shots in a thwarted plot against LGBTQ+ people gets 18 years in prison

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A southwestern Montana man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after being convicted of a hate crime and firearms charges for threatening a woman with violent, homophobic slurs and shooting at her house with an AK-style rifle as part of a self-described “mission” to rid a small town of its LGBTQ community. John Russell Howald of Basin was sentenced Tuesday in Great Falls. Prosecutors say Howald shot into the house of a woman who is lesbian, then headed into town intending to target others he perceived as homosexual. Local residents who were leaving church that morning and knew Howald stalled him long enough for a sheriff’s deputy to respond. Howald’s attorney plans an appeal.