By Jasmine Hall
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON —- The gunman who opened fire in Yellowstone National Park on July 4 had plans for “Pro White Nationalist Violence” and “a history of expressing white supremacist and antisemitic views.”

That’s according to court documents filed in federal court Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming, which revealed new details about the incident and the shooter, Samson Lucas Bariah Fussner, a 28-year-old Floridian and employee of Xanterra Parks and Resorts.

Fussner was shot and killed by park rangers after opening fire at the Canyon Lodge dining facility, where about 200 people were eating breakfast on Independence Day.

The documents allege that Fussner was an active member of the Vanguard News Network, which officials call “a website and forum dedicated to white supremacist and antisemitic viewpoints.” The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that tracks hate speech and extremism in the United States, deems Vanguard News Network a “Neo-Nazi hate group.”

In March, Fussner posted on the website that he was “on the precipice of a breakdown” and “reiterated his belief in and desire for a white nation, while lamenting his inability to connect with others,” court documents state. 

Fussner said that he “despises Christians” who “fraternize with race-traitors that support non-whites or Jews” and that he wanted to get a job in a “nice white mountainous area or state park” to expose himself to different white people. If he wasn’t able “to make something of that experience,” he told readers, they would likely see him in the news.

“I do not believe in suicide, but I do believe in a last stand,” he wrote on Vanguard News Network, court documents say.

The court documents provide the first, public view into the federal government’s investigation into Fussner’s motive and actions, which until now has been conducted behind closed doors. 

Yellowstone has released statements and a report about the incident, as well as body camera footage from park law enforcement but declined to comment in further detail. While Yellowstone officials previously said Fussner intended to shoot up Fourth of July events outside the park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filing alleges Fussner had a specific motive: “to carry out a terrorist attack against the United States, its citizens and their property.”

The Attorney’s Office filed the documents Friday to keep Fussner’s vehicle, weapons and ammunition in government custody because his property was a “part of a plot to commit mass violence.” 

Fussner’s Nissan Rogue remains in federal custody in Yellowstone, four of his firearms are in custody in Quantico, Virginia, and his magazines and ammunition are in custody in Denver and Lander. The FBI defines judicial forfeiture as a “legal tool that allows law enforcement to seize property that is involved in a crime.” The legal action is filed against the property itself, rather than a person.

In the gunfight after Fussner opened fire, a ranger was shot in a “lower extremity” and lost multiple toes as a result, court documents say. Other rangers treated the injured officer and Fussner, who died at the scene.

But the incident began long before the engagement with law enforcement. 

At approximately 9:40 p.m. on July 3, Fussner went to a female employee’s room. When she told Fussner she was not interested in him romantically, he left. Twenty minutes later he returned, forcefully entered the door and held her hostage for about two hours, documents say. He pulled out a knife for a short time and then a handgun, keeping it in his hands the entire time. He discussed his mental health issues and “made inflammatory comments about immigrants, African Americans and Jews, including how they were negatively affecting the country,” court documents say.

“Fussner told Victim 1 he wanted to kill himself ten years ago, but he could not pull the trigger,” according to the forfeiture filing. “Fussner indicated that he wanted people to go down with him, so he had to do something major; he wanted to make a statement because politics in America are messed up, and law enforcement was going to have to kill him.

“Fussner told Victim 1 he did not like how America was bringing in non-Americans and how that was changing the culture,” the filing says. “He indicated that he thought all Blacks were evil and reported hating Jews.”

He also expressed racist thoughts against “J-1s,” people with a nonimmigrant visa “approved to participate in exchange visitor programs in the United States.” People in the U.S. on a J-1 visa are often camp counselors, resort employees and students.

Fussner told his hostage his plan to carry out a mass shooting at the dining room, and at around midnight he left her unharmed after her roommate entered the dorm room. She immediately called for help, and National Park Service rangers were notified. They attempted to locate the suspect but were unsuccessful. However, rangers were posted around the Canyon Lodge and Grizzly Dorm to protect visitors because of the threat of a mass shooting.

Federal authorities describe texts between Fussner and his brother, which include racist and antisemitic language, and other details of the incident such as where the getaway car was found, the kind of weapons and ammunition in the vehicle and the shootout at 8:05 a.m. with law enforcement.

No further action has been taken by the federal district court.