Zachary Newell (U.S. Department of Justice).
A North Carolina man who threatened to "shoot up" a preschool, saying it would make him "so happy" to murder babies and see them "suffer" is headed to federal prison.
Zachary Newell, 26, was sentenced to two years in prison for communicating online threats, according to a Justice Department press release. He pleaded guilty last November to making threats against at least 20 Black preschool students and communicating those threats on YouTube.
Prosecutors say Newell's comments were racially motivated, with him targeting Black and Hispanic children — as well as minority internet users — numerous times.
"I'm gonna shoot up a black pre school," Newell wrote in the comment section of a YouTube video in August 2025. "Twenty black babies will be shot and then skinned like the animals they are," he seethed.
"Can't wait to start killing," Newell wrote in another post.
"The amount of pain and suffering black people are about to suffer makes me so happy," he said. "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."
On August 31, 2025, deputies with the Carteret County Sheriff's Office made contact with Newell in Newport and asked him about his social media posts after receiving a "CyberTip" about them. Newell admitted to posting the threats.
"He stated that he had begun watching extremist content on Twitter," the DOJ explains in a March 18 sentencing memorandum. "He began believing … conspiracy theories he read about on the internet."
Deputies told Newell that they were contacted by the FBI and advised of the post on YouTube in which Newell claimed he was going to shoot up a preschool and "skin the children."
Newell admitted to "searching demographics in various cities" but denied having any intent to act on that information, the sentencing memo says. "He claimed his interest was academic," the document recounts. "Newell admitted to deleting his search history on his computer after being released on state bond; he claimed that he was embarrassed about pornography searches."
A federal judge sentenced Newell on Wednesday.
"Newell threatened to become the next school shooter — at a preschool no less," said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle in the DOJ's press release announcing Newell's conviction.
"Targeting babies for murder — simply because of the color of their skin — is disgusting and unacceptable in civilized society," Boyle blasted. "The FBI quickly responded, preventing a shooting and brought a dangerous man to justice."