Snohomish man, who trained extremists, sentenced for illegal gun possession
Published 4:20 pm Thursday, July 17, 2025
EVERETT — A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a Snohomish resident Wednesday to two years in prison on weapons charges related to extremist activity.
U.S. District Judge Tana Lin sentenced him to two years in jail and three years probation during a sentencing hearing in Seattle.
Law enforcement arrested Kyle Christopher Benton, 29, in September 2024 after seizing a firearm that resembled an M16 rifle that fired in a fully automatic fashion. They also seized an uninstalled drop-in auto sear — a modification that makes a gun fire like a machine gun. Benton possessed both unregistered, short barrel rifles and machine guns, weapons capable of firing multiple rounds with a single trigger pull, the press release said.
Prosecutors said Benton used these weapons to further his standing with various racially or ethnically motivated violent extremist groups and groups espousing white supremacy.
He was charged with unlawful possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered firearm.
On March 28, Benton pleaded guilty to both counts, the release said.
The FBI investigated Benton after he was discharged from the U.S. Army because he threatened to kill his wife and the discovery of multiple social media accounts, where Benton posted violent extremist content, neo-Nazi propaganda and anti-Semitic content, according to court documents.
Also, he engaged with like-minded individuals for years, documents said. In Oregon, Washington and Idaho, Benton participated in hate rallies and led workshops about firearms for various white supremacy groups.
On social media, Benton posted a video showing himself firing a fully automatic firearm, his support of the Butler Plan — which desired to create a “whites-only” homeland in the Pacific Northwest — and encouraged racially motivated violence, documents said.
“You not only illegally possessed extremely dangerous firearms, but you bragged about it and put on firearms trainings for others while doing so,” Lin said during sentencing.
In a letter to the court, Benton disavowed his white supremacist views, the release said.
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay
