Tennessee Man Sentenced for Arson and Terrorism-Related Charges

Regan Darby Prater, a 28-year-old resident of Tullahoma, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 210 months in prison for charges related to arson and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced that Prater will also serve three years of supervised release and pay $1,289,000 in restitution.

Prater pleaded guilty in April 2026 to using a napalm-based incendiary device, known as a 'sparkler bomb,' to destroy facilities at the Highlander Center in New Market, Tennessee. The Highlander Center is a nonprofit research and education facility with ties to the Civil Rights Movement. According to court documents, Prater drove from Tullahoma to the center, where he ignited the device, causing over $1.2 million in damage.

Before detonating the bomb, Prater spray-painted the symbol of the Iron Guard, a paramilitary group associated with the Romanian Nazi Party of the 1930s, in the center's parking lot. This symbol was notably engraved on the rifle used in the Christchurch, New Zealand terrorist attacks just two weeks before Prater's actions. Prater admitted that his actions were motivated by his white-supremacist beliefs and a response to the Highlander Center's educational mission.

In addition to the arson charges, Prater attempted to provide material support to Hizballah, a group recognized by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997. In 2019, he obtained a document containing personally identifiable information of over 35,000 individuals allegedly affiliated with the Israeli government. Prater then provided this document to someone he believed was associated with Hizballah, encouraging them to "start the hunt."

The investigation into Prater's activities was conducted by the FBI Nashville Field Office, with support from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S.

Attorneys Casey T. Arrowood and Kyle J. Wilson from the Eastern District of Tennessee, with additional assistance from Trial Attorneys Katherine McCallister and Justin Sher from the Civil Rights Division and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section, respectively.