20-year-old sacrifices future for hate, gets 18 years for firebombing Ohio church over drag shows

CLEVELAND – Aimenn D. Penny didn't apologize for firebombing a church last year in Geauga County, Ohio.

Instead, he justified sacrificing his future for hate.

The 20-year-old, standing calmly in an orange prison jumpsuit during his sentencing hearing Monday in U.S. District Court, maintained his attack was a protest against the LGBTQ+ community and drag shows, an effort "to protect children." He said he does not believe men should dress as women or vice versa.

"Especially in a place of worship," Penny said. "I didn't hurt anyone."

Except, he did - the judge and victims said.

U.S. District Judge Bridget Meehan Brennan sentenced Penny to 18 years in federal prison for the March 25 attack and ordered him to pay $10,507 in restitution to the church, to undergo mental health treatment and to serve three years supervised probation after his release.

He was found guilty in October of arson and obstruction charges. U.S. attorney Rebecca Lutzko had recommended a 20-years prison term.

Penny, a member of the extremist groups White Lives Matter Ohio and the Blood Tribe, told FBI agents that he threw two gasoline-filled bottles, often called Molotov cocktails, at the Community Church of Chesterland around 1 a.m. on March 25. It left minimal structural damage.

The attack was aimed at intimidating the church and preventing two planned drag show events there.

"I'm all about free speech in this country. It's one of the things I love about this country," said Megan Carver, a church official who organized the events. "But violence is absolutely unacceptable. I'm crestfallen because this person chose hate over everything."

FBI: Aimenn Penny has shown no remorse for firebombing church

Penny was arrested March 31.

According to a court filing in the case, FBI agents in April obtained letters and a manifesto Penny wrote while in jail. He showed no remorse, only pride. His only regret? "The church didn't burn down to the ground."

“You still don’t show any remorse and you’re nodding your head," Brennan told Penny.

Two weeks prior to the attack, Penny was with extremist groups in Wadsworth protesting a drag queen event. And, in jail, he called for additional attacks, including one in Akron, in letters obtained by the FBI, court filings show.

Penny claimed "his intention was to protect children from transgender persons," but Lutzko wrote in court records that his "true purpose was intimidation of those who disagreed with him. He was not freeing any children held at the church that night."

Brennan also rebuked Penny, who grinned frequently, about his claims that no one was hurt. She noted a preschool that operated out of the church shut down after the attack and church members were traumatized.

"Had you set fire to the church, who would've responded? First responders," Brennan said. "You would've put them at risk."

Penny's attorney John Greven said his client lacked stability in his family and had become impressionable and easily influenced by adults who sought to radicalize him online. Three of Penny's family members attended the court hearing but left quickly afterward.

A letter from his grandmother and his biological father were entered into the record but not read aloud.

'Mr. Penny, you failed.'

Carver and other church members told Penny that his efforts ultimately failed.

Jess Peacock, pastor at Community Church of Chesterland, said the attack initially drove away members and the preschool left. But new supporters and members arrived later, making the church stronger.

"Mr. Penny, you failed," Peacock said. "Yes, you failed. It's because hate will always fail."

And Carver said the shows weren't canceled. They still were held. "I was not about to let hate overtake love."

Reach Benjamin Duer at ben.duer@cantonrep.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @bduerREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Aimenn Penny gets 18 years for firebombing Ohio church over drag shows