An Olympia man was recently sentenced to over 10 years in prison for a series of offenses in 2018 that included attacking religious buildings.
Mikey Diamond Starrett, also known as Michael Jason Layes, 52, was sentenced on Oct. 18 in Tacoma’s United States District Court to 11 years in prison on charges related to a plethora of arsons and a shooting spree in 2018 that damaged several Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls in the process, including one in Yelm.
U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gordon announced that Starrett pleaded guilty in May 2024 on four counts of damage to religious property and one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a crime on violence.
Starrett was arrested in September 2021 after an “extensive investigation,” and has remained in federal custody since his arrest.
“The defendant in this case committed four attacks on Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls, causing fear and anguish to its members,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a news release. “The freedom to practice the religion we choose, without discrimination or violence, is a fundamental civil right in our nation and a hallmark of our democracy from its very inception. Violence based on religious prejudice has no place in our society. The Justice Department will continue to prosecute those who target and harm houses of worship.”
According to case records, Starrett set fire to three separate Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls, including on March 19, 2018, when he targeted the Kingdom Halls in Tumwater and Olympia. On July 3, 2018, the suspect returned to the Olympia Kingdom Hall and completely burned the place of worship down.
In a fourth attack on May 15, 2018, Starrett used an “assault-rifle” to shoot rounds into Yelm’s Kingdom Hall. His attacks on the three places of worship caused more than $700,000 in damages. In his plea agreement, Starrett admitted that he “defaced, damaged and destroyed” the Kingdom Halls because of the properties “religious character,” the news release stated.
“ATF and our law enforcement partners spent many thousands, if not tens of thousands, of hours investigating these attacks and ensuring that the right person was identified,” said Jonathan Blais, ATF Seattle Special Agent in Charge. “His guilty plea is a validation of the hard work put in by all the law enforcement involved in the investigation, and this sentence is appropriate for his egregious actions. We are all committed to defending the right of people to practice their religion, and investigating when someone acts to deprive them of that right, in this case of through acts of arson and use of firearm during, and in a relation to, a crime of violence.”
