Man Threatens to Storm Preschool and Shoot Black Children, Saying It Would Make Him ‘So Happy,’ Gets Two-Year Prison Sentence

A 26-year-old man from North Carolina, Zachary Newell, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for threatening to shoot babies at a Black preschool. Newell made violent comments against innocent children on social media in August 2025, posting that he was planning to shoot up a school.

At the time, Newell posted a comment on YouTube under the username CommentatorsHateMe, writing under a video: “I'm gonna shoot up a Black preschool. Twenty Black babies will be shot and then skinned like the animals they are.”

Another threat by him read, “The amount of pain and suffering black people are about to suffer makes me so happy. I'm gonna be laughing when people like you start getting killed in the streets. LOL. It's gonna be so fun to make you suffer until your last breath.”

As Google became aware of the comments, the tech giant alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which in turn contacted the Carteret County Sheriff's Office. Deputies from the sheriff’s office confronted Newell at his home in Newport on August 31, 2025.

They were able to track him through the email registered with CommentatorsHateMe and through his IP address. According to court documents, Newell admitted to making the threats. He was then taken into custody for communicating online threats.

Following his arrest, FBI Director Kash Patel released a statement. “Threats of violence against children are beyond unacceptable acts of cowardice. The FBI worked quickly with our partners in Carteret County to ensure this individual was taken into custody before he could act,” he told Fox News Digital.

Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck also talked about the case in an official statement that read, “The comments posted by this suspect were violent, hateful, and shocking to the conscience. Our office worked swiftly to take this subject into custody and worked with the [FBI] to subsequently have him placed into federal custody. Suspects who make these types of comments will be dealt with as severely as the law allows.”

Newell pleaded guilty to the crime in November 2025. Finally, in March 2026, U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced him to two years in federal prison. Announcing the sentencing, the Department of Justice said in a press release that Newell’s threats were racially motivated.

As he began browsing extremist content on the Internet, he became obsessed with racism and started making threatening comments on social media. After the ruling, U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle released a statement that read, “Inmate Newell threatened to become the next school shooter—at a preschool no less.”

“Targeting babies for murder—simply because of the color of their skin—is disgusting and unacceptable in civilized society. The FBI quickly responded, preventing a shooting and brought a dangerous man to justice,” he added.