White Supremacist Admits Guilt in Tennessee Civil Rights Center Arson and Terrorist Aid Plot
Regan Prater, a man with documented ties to white supremacist movements, entered a guilty plea on Monday for his role in a destructive fire at the historic Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee. The blaze, which occurred in March 2019, caused over $1.2 million in damage and destroyed irreplaceable documents from the U.S. civil rights movement.
Dual Charges: Arson and Attempted Terrorist Support
According to court documents filed in February, Prater pleaded guilty to two serious federal charges. The first charge involves the arson attack on the Highlander Center, a facility renowned for training civil rights icons including Rosa Parks and John Lewis. The second charge relates to his attempts to aid Hezbollah, a designated foreign terrorist organization, by providing personally identifiable information about individuals allegedly affiliated with the Israeli government.
Prosecutors revealed that Prater's arrest in April 2025 came more than six years after the March 2019 fire. The delay was due to extensive investigation that connected him to the crime through digital evidence and witness testimony.
Digital Evidence and White Supremacist Connections
An affidavit filed in federal court detailed how investigators linked Prater to the arson through his participation in several group chats associated with white supremacist organizations. In one particularly revealing private message exchange, a witness who later provided screenshots to the FBI asked a user believed to be Prater whether he was responsible for setting the fire.
The individual using the screen name "Rooster" initially responded, "I'm not admitting anything," but subsequently provided a detailed description of how the fire was ignited using "a sparkler bomb and some Napalm." This specific method matched evidence collected at the scene.
Symbolic Connections to Global White Supremacist Violence
Investigators discovered a white-power symbol spray-painted on the pavement near the fire site. The affidavit describes this as a "triple cross" symbol that was also found on one of the firearms used by the shooter who killed 51 people at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 15, 2019—just two weeks before the Highlander fire.
This connection suggests potential ideological links between Prater's actions and broader international white supremacist violence, though the court documents do not establish direct coordination between the incidents.
Legal Proceedings and Previous Criminal History
Prater was initially charged with a single count of arson, but the previous indictment was dismissed in favor of the February criminal information filing that included the additional charge related to Hezbollah. In a plea agreement filed the following day, the government agreed that a sentence of no more than 20 years would be appropriate.
This is not Prater's first arson conviction. He previously received a five-year federal prison sentence for setting a fire in June 2019 at an adult video and novelty store in east Tennessee. In that case, he pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay $106,000 in restitution. Investigators found a cellphone at that fire scene that they later determined belonged to Prater, containing a short video showing a person inside the store lighting an accelerant.
Historical Significance of the Highlander Center
The Highlander Research and Education Center holds profound historical importance in the American civil rights movement. Rosa Parks attended a workshop there on integration in 1955, approximately six months before her historic refusal to move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks consistently credited Highlander with helping her develop into a more determined activist.
Two years later, Parks returned to Highlander with Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. for the school's 25th anniversary celebration. During that event, King delivered a keynote address about achieving freedom and equality through nonviolent means.
Irreplaceable Loss and Upcoming Sentencing
The fire broke out in the early morning hours of March 29, 2019, and while no injuries occurred, the damage was extensive. Decades worth of irreplaceable documents were lost in the blaze, including artifacts, speeches, and other materials from various historical eras, with particular significance to the U.S. civil rights movement.
Sentencing for Prater is scheduled for September 9 in Knoxville. A public defender representing Prater did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the guilty plea. The case continues to highlight ongoing concerns about domestic terrorism and white supremacist violence targeting institutions with historical significance to social justice movements.
