Eugene white nationalist who terrorized his former teacher with gruesome, threatening letters...

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Gary Edward Franklin, 58, targeted a community college professor in part because of her sexual orientation.
A Eugene man who ran a white supremacist website and sent letters that terrorized a community college professor was sentenced Monday in federal court to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Gary Edward Franklin, 58, pleaded guilty Jan. 4 to two counts of threatening communications by mail.

Franklin targeted a community college professor in part because of her sexual orientation, the U.S. Department of Justice stated in court documents.

Around 2010, Franklin took a class taught by a professor identified in court documents as “Adult Victim 1.” He wore a jacket with a “large swastika symbol” on the back to an intercultural communications class, federal prosecutors stated in court records.

The professor asked Franklin not to wear it again, noting it was particularly offensive given the nature of the class.

In December 2020, Franklin sent the first of two letters to the community college professor.