Authorities: Salem man with framed Hitler photo wanted to start a race war

Shawne Wickham, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
·2 min read
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May 11—A Salem man, who authorities say kept a framed picture of Adolf Hitler at his home and advocated for a "race war," was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in federal prison for illegal possession of machine guns.

Kyle Morris, 23, who pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in Concord, also was ordered to forfeit to the government two machine guns seized during the execution of a search warrant of his home.

The machine guns were kept in a locked gun room that also contained more than 20 other firearms and Nazi paraphernalia, including a Nazi uniform, two Nazi flags and a framed photo of Hitler, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case.

"The defendant expressed an interest in perpetrating horrific acts of violence against racial and religious minorities," said U.S. Attorney Jane Young. "Those beliefs coupled with his illegal possession of machine guns pose a danger to our communities, and today's sentence sends a clear message that such conduct will result in not only a felony conviction but in incarceration."

According to court documents, investigators learned that Morris is a member of the Nationalist Social Club (NSC-131), a neo-Nazi organization active in New England.

In the news release, authorities said Morris in private correspondence "expressed an interest in participating in lone wolf attacks in Massachusetts ... culminating in a plan to drive a truck bomb into the Massachusetts State House."

Morris also advocated for bombing mosques, synagogues and diversity centers and for "starting a race war," the release said. He also wrote about wanting to "mag dump" (firing a weapon repeatedly until a magazine of ammunition is emptied) at a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters, "especially the darker ones," officials said.

The FBI and New Hampshire State Police investigated the case.

"Today, Kyle Morris learned his fate for illegally possessing two machine guns, while advocating for a race war and the bombing of mosques and synagogues," said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston division. "Weapons he collected in furtherance of his desire to commit racially motivated violence."