Source: US FBI
Seattle – An Army veteran who illegally possessed high powered firearms was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two years in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Kyle Christopher Benton, 29, was arrested in September 2024, following an investigation of his activities both online and in person involving high-powered weapons. Benton possessed both unregistered, short barrel rifles and machineguns, weapons capable of firing multiple rounds with a single trigger pull. Moreover, he used these weapons to further his standing with various racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist groups and groups espousing white supremacy.
At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, “You not only illegally possessed extremely dangerous firearms, but you bragged about it and put on firearms trainings for others while doing so.”
According to records filed in the case, Benton was investigated by the FBI after he was discharged from the United States Army and after he threatened to kill his wife. The investigation revealed Benton operated multiple social media accounts where he posted violent extremist content, neo-Nazi propaganda, and anti-Semitic materials. But it was not just online activity. Benton participated in “hate rallies” and other gatherings located in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho in furtherance of his white supremacist views. Drawing upon his military training and veteran status, he led workshops about firearms for various white supremacy groups.
On September 6, 2024, law enforcement executed a court authorized search warrant at Benton’s Snohomish home and seized a firearm resembling an M16 rifle that fired in a fully automatic fashion. They also seized an uninstalled drop-in auto sear (which makes a gun fire like a machinegun) and two rifles with overall barrel lengths of less than 16 inches. Such guns must be registered under the National Firearms Act.
On March 28, 2025, Benton pleaded guilty to Unlawful Possession of a Machinegun, and Possession of an Unregistered Firearm.
In asking for a 30-month sentence Assistant United States Attorney Brian Wynne wrote to the court, “while Benton was in possession of these weapons, he was actively engaged with groups encouraging racially or ethnically motivated violence and white supremacy. Benton
used the firearms along with his military experience to establish himself within the groups. While engaged with these groups he put on workshops about firearms and held tactical trainings for group members.”
In his letter to the court, Benton now disavows his white supremacist views.
The case was investigated by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brian J. Wynne.