A judge in Portland Oregon has sentenced a man charged over a gay hate crime to 12 years behind bars. After he finishes his sentence Daniel Andrew McGee will also be subject to five years of supervised release.
McGee was sentenced to federal prison for a federal hate crime after assaulting a victim on the basis of their sexual orientation.
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.
McGee. who is now 26 years old, assaulted the victim over the course of several minutes, striking the victim on the head with a wooden tire thumper and using his hands to try to gouge the victim’s eyes out. The victim sustained life-threatening injuries during the assault, including serious head wounds.
The investigation revealed McGee had been researching and planning the attack for weeks. For at least one month prior to 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 November 18, 2021, a federal grand jury in Eugene, Oregon, returned a one-count indictment charging McGee with a federal hate crime involving an attempt to kill. On November 25, 2025, McGee pleaded guilty to count one of the Indictment.
He was facing a maximum sentence of life in prison, and as part of the plea agreement, McGee has agreed to pay restitution in full to his victim.
“The right to live safely in one’s community is a fundamental civil right. The District of Oregon remains committed to combatting hate crimes and protecting that right for all,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon Scott E. Bradford.
“While no conviction can undo the harm caused, we hope this sentence will bring some measure of justice to the victim and our community.”
“Hate crimes impact not just individuals, but entire communities,” said Acting FBI Portland Special Agent in Charge Matt Torres.
“The FBI works together with our partners to prevent hate crimes from impacting our communities, and every attack on someone because of who and what they are deserves to be acted on by the full extent of the law.”
