The first incel sentenced on hate crime charges in the United States

A day before Tres Genco wrote his hate-fueled, misogynist manifesto, replete with fantasies about slaughtering women, the self-described incel littered his online search history with queries about sororities at a university in Ohio. In January 2020, on the day Genco crept around at that Ohio university, potentially stalking for locations of his mass shooting, his frantic web searches included “planning a shooting crime” and “when does preparing for a crime become an attempt?”. Two months later, in March, police found a stash of weapons, ammunition, a hoodie donning the word “revenge”, a face mask, and body armour in Genco’s vehicle, which he planned to use to kill women at that previously surveilled university. While Genco’s case is not unique, and a host of attempted and atrocious incel attacks have taken place in recent years in the United States, in February 2024, Genco became the first incel to be convicted of hate crime charges in the United States. Genco was served a six-year and eight-month prison term, followed by five years of supervision. In “Combating Incels: Addressing Misogynistic Violence as an Early Warning Indicator of Escalating Violence and Armed Conflict,” renowned legal scholar Christie Edwards argues that to foster strong, peaceful, and resilient communities challenged by violent misogyny, one crucial factor is substantial criminal justice penalties for misogynistic crimes and violence against women (2022). She compellingly argues that currently, “international legal frameworks and legal definitions for violent extremism and acts of terrorism fail to interpret the ideological content of men's violence and the targeting of women due to misogynistic ideals” (23).?

The case at an Ohio university

On February 29, the 21-year-old Genco, a self-described incel from Hillsboro, Ohio, was sentenced on federal hate crime charges, marking a milestone in the prosecution of gender-based hate crimes. Genco’s planning of a massacre started in 2019 when he bought tactical gloves, a bulletproof vest, a hoodie donning “revenge”, cargo pants, a bowie knife, a skull facemask, two Glock 17 magazines, a 9mm Glock 17 clip, and a holster clip concealed carry for a Glock. That same year, he attended roughly five months of Army Basic Training in Georgia before being kicked out of the program for conduct issues. Not long after, in 2020, he wrote various notes on his phone about both his homicidal intentions and his surveillance efforts at a university in Ohio and searched for information about the plotting of a massacre. On March 11, 2020, he looked at the Facebook pages of the university’s sororities and also gathered the radio codes of police forces active in the area. The next day, Genco’s mother called the police after her son threatened her and seemed increasingly aggressive. Responding to this call, the Highland County sheriff’s deputies found all his preparations and materials for a mass shooting in his room and vehicle. After his arrest, he pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to commit a hate crime in October 2022.?

Social Media Presence and Martyrization

On his various social media platforms that are still accessible, he portrays himself as a nerdy guy interested in computer science and does not openly share his thoughts on inceldom. On his purported Instagram account, most comments condemn his acts but support by what are likely fellow incels is rampant as well. His alleged social media engagement since 2021 expresses some level of cognitive dissonance or performativity. For example, Genco seemingly reposted a thread on women in neuro-engineering for Women’s history month in 2021 on X. This stands in stark contrast with his social media presence pre-arrest, with two accounts traced back to him on a popular incel forum showing extensive engagement with inceldom discussion between 2019 and 2020.?

Comments in support of Genco’s deeds are also present on popular incels forums, highlighting the perpetuation of the martyrization of violent perpetrators in the incel community. As court records show, Genco was inspired by the perpetrator of the Isla Vista Killings, even planning his attack on the anniversary of Eliott Rodger’s 2014 killing spree. Now on popular incel forums, Genco himself has entered into the canon of supposed “martyrs”.?

Legal pathway?

The Genco case is groundbreaking because it treats incel-inspired violence as a form of hate crime. By prosecuting Genco under hate crime statutes, the court acknowledges that incel ideology can fuel gender-based violence that targets women simply because of their gender. By imposing significant penalties on perpetrators like Genco, the legal system aims to deter future acts of violence and protect vulnerable communities.