After responding to a call in March 2020 about a person who had barricaded himself in his room with a firearm, the Highland County Sheriff’s Department found more than they bargained for. In Tres Genco’s home in Hillsboro, Ohio, investigators found an AR-15-style rifle with a bump-stock and Glock pistol modified to fire fully automatically with no serial number.
According to a July 21 report by USA Today, they also found documents of his involvement in the Incel movement, an online community of predominantly men who harbor anger towards women. FBI investigators indicated that Ohio University was Genco’s possible target to carry out hate crimes.
According to a news release from U.S. Attorney Vipal Patel, “Incels advocate violence in support of their belief that women unjustly deny them sexual or romantic attention to which they believe they are entitled.”
In one document Genco allegedly wrote: “I am already set to go into the U.S. Army. This training will be for the attainment of one reality, the death of what I have been deprived of most, but also cherish and fantasize at the opportunity of having but has been neglected of; Women.”
FBI agents said that in his writings Genco has aspired to kill 3,000 people and had conducted surveillance of a university and online research of sororities.
Further, Genco had compared himself to Elliot Rodger who killed six people at the University of California, Santa Barbara, after promoting on YouTube videos his desire to punish women. Since that incident, several social media outlets, including Facebook and Reddit, have cracked down on Incel communities. USA Today previously reported that one of the Incel communities had 40,000 members.
Genco has been charged with attempting a hate crime and unlawful possession of a machine gun. The hate crime charge is punishable by up to life in prison; the machine gun charge comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
