Arizona Man Sentenced For Role In Neo-Nazi Plot Targeting Journalists

Johnny Roman Garza, 21, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for his role in a Neo-Nazi group's plot to threaten and intimidate journalists.

Garza, who is from near Phoenix, admitted in September to conspiring with three other members of the Neo-Nazi group the Atomwaffen Division to identify journalists and others whose work exposed anti-Semitism.

On Jan. 25 in Phoenix, Garza placed a poster on the bedroom window of an editor at local Jewish magazine – a poster that depicted a figure in a skull mask holding a Molotov cocktail in front of a burning home, along with the warning "You have been visited by your local Nazis." He also stopped at the apartment complex where a member of the Arizona Association of Black Journalists lived, but reportedly could not find a place to put the poster.

"While this defendant did not hatch this disturbing plot, he enthusiastically embraced it, researching addresses for journalists and those who oppose hate in our communities," said Brian Moran, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in a statement. "Ultimately in the dark of night he delivered a hateful, threatening poster — spreading fear and anxiety. Such conduct has no place in our community.