EUGENE – A Springfield man appeared before a U.S. District Court Judge on Nov. 24 and pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime for assaulting a victim based on their sexual orientation.
Daniel Andrew McGee, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of a Hate Crime Act involving an Attempt to Kill.
According to court documents, on the evening of July 5, 2021, McGee met the victim at the victim’s apartment after communicating on the dating application Grindr, an application designed for, and primarily used by, gay men. McGee assaulted the victim over the course of several minutes, striking the victim on the head with a wooden tire thumper.
The victim sustained life-threatening injuries during the assault, including severe head wounds.
The investigation revealed McGee had been researching and planning the attack for weeks. For at least one month before the attack, McGee searched the internet for homophobic and graphically violent anti-gay material. McGee planned for the attack by purchasing the weapon and other materials from Amazon and searching the internet for suggestions on how to get away with murder.
On Nov. 18, 2021, a federal grand jury in Eugene, returned a one-count indictment charging McGee with a Hate Crime Act involving an Attempt to Kill.
McGee faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $250,000 fine, and five years of supervised release. He will be sentenced on March 3, 2026, before a U.S. District Court Judge.
As part of the agreement, McGee has agreed to pay full restitution to his victim.
The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Eugene Police Department.
