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An Ohio man pleads guilty to plotting a mass shooting of college women in 2020

By: Jonathan Franklin | NPR
Posted on: Sunday, October 16, 2022

COLUMBUS, Ohio (NPR) – An Ohio man who federal authorities say planned to “slaughter” nearly 3,000 women at a local university in 2020 has pleaded guilty to an attempted hate crime, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Tres Genco, 22, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of attempting to commit a hate crime after admitting he planned to target and kill women at an unnamed university in Ohio.

Genco was arrested by federal agents in July 2021 and has remained in custody since, according to the Justice Department.

In a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, Genco identified as an “involuntary celibate,” or incel, and had active online profiles that supported the incel movement. The Justice Department describes the incel movement as an online community — predominantly of men — who “harbor anger” towards women.

According to court documents obtained by NPR, Genco maintained several online profiles on a popular incel website from at least July 2019 through mid-March 2020, where he posted messages frequently.

In one post, Genco went into detail about spraying “some foids and couples” with orange juice in a water gun. According to authorities, “foids” is an incel term short for “femoids,” a crude term referring to women.

Investigators say Genco also had writings dating back to at least 2019, stating he would “slaughter women out of hatred, jealousy and revenge” and referring to death as the “great equalizer.”

In one of those writings, Genco wrote he hoped to kill as many as 3,000 people, prosecutors said. The federal investigation also revealed that the day he wrote his screed, Genco searched online for sororities and a university in Ohio.

According to court documents, prosecutors said Genco conducted surveillance at an Ohio university on Jan. 15, 2020. On that same day, investigators said Genco searched topics online including “planning a shooting crime” and “when does preparing for a crime become an attempt?”

Genco also expressed admiration for Elliot Rodger, a then-22-year-old who killed six people and injured 14 others in Isla Vista, Calif. in 2014, according to prosecutors. Notably, some of Rodger’s victims were shot outside a University of California, Santa Barbara sorority house.

NPR reached out to Genco’s attorney with a request for comment but did not immediately hear back. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

With the rise in hate crimes and hate incidents over the last year, federal and state officials are taking new steps when it comes to reporting bias incidents. In May, the Justice Department announced a series of new guidelines and $10 million in new federal grants to help states develop hotlines for reporting incidents.