Self-described ‘incel’ sentenced for plot to kill women at OSU
An Ohio man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for a plot to carry out a mass shooting targeting women at Ohio State University as part of a misogynistic, radical ideology.
Tres Genco, 24, of Hillsboro, was given an 80-month sentence by U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott in federal court in Cincinnati on Thursday, almost four years after his first arrest.
Genco pleaded guilty in October 2022 to a single count of attempted hate crime. His was the first federal hate crime prosecution in the U.S. of an “incel” – shorthand for involuntary celibate – a largely online group that harbors anger toward women.
“Genco intended to carry out a devastating mass murder of innocent women in this state for no other reason than the fact that he hated them. Everybody deserves to live without threats of violence or fearing acts of terror,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker said in a statement. Prosecutors say that Genco selfidentified as an incel from at least July 2019 until his March 2020 arrest, when his mom called 911 saying Genco was threatening her and that she heard him go into his bedroom and cock a gun.
Police found an AR-15 rifle equipped with a bump stock, as well as several loaded magazines, boxes of ammunition and body armor in the trunk of Genco’s car. The officers also found a hand-written note detailing his preparations for the planned attack, along with a handgun that was modified to be an automatic weapon, while searching his bedroom, prosecutors said.
Genco’s to-do list, which was penned on stationary from a hotel in Greece, had the letters “OSU” written at the top, seemingly referencing Ohio State University.
Prosecutors say he also wrote of obtaining a “kill count” of 3,000 people.
Genco was first prosecuted and ultimately sentenced in Highland County Common Pleas Court, where he received a 17-month prison term for making a terroristic threat.
His federal prosecution began five months after his release from state prison. “That should’ve been the end of this matter,” Richard Monahan, Genco’s public defender, said of his client’s state-level conviction, noting that Genco has been in custody for more than 21⁄2 years awaiting the outcome of his second prosecution for the same offense.
Genco’s plot was intricate and he worked for months to check off the entries on his to-do list, prosecutors said. He was deeply immersed in the incel ideology and there’s no evidence he’s ever been deradicalized.
His posts to an online forum showed that he idolized Elliot Rodger, another self-proclaimed incel, who killed six people and injured numerous others after opening fire outside a sorority house at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014.
The day prosecutors say Genco planned to carry out his plan fell on the anniversary of Rodger’s attack.
He also wrote a manifesto and farewell note in anticipation of his planned attack. His preparations went so far as to surveil an unidentified school and join the U.S. Army to get the training necessary to become a more effective killer, prosecutors said.
Genco also visited sorority websites, including one at Ohio State University, and searched the internet for terms like “sorority osu” and “ohio (sic) state university sororities,” prosecutors wrote in court filings. Just a day before his arrest, Genco searched the web for radio codes for the Columbus and Ohio State University police departments.
It was only because of his mother’s call to the police that Genco’s plans came to light before anyone was hurt, prosecutors said.
“This is more than dark thoughts … these are dark plans,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan Gaffney Painter.
Gaffney Painter said Genco’s sentence should send a message of deterrence to other incels plotting acts of violence against women.
Genco apologized in court for his actions and for any stress he may have caused because of the plot, adding all he wants now is the opportunity for redemption.
“I completely disavow (incels),” he said.