YELM, Wash. — An Olympia man was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Seattle in connection with a 2018 shooting that damaged the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Yelm.
Michael Layes, 50, allegedly fired approximately 35 rifle rounds at the worship center, causing over $10,000 in damage on May 15, 2018.
Layes is charged with one count of damage to religious property and one count of use of a firearm during a crime of violence, which is a hate crime. The original indictment charged him with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
If convicted, Layes would face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison on the charge of damage to religious property involving the use of a dangerous weapon. If convicted on the unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm charge, he faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. He faces a sentence of at least 10 years in prison to run consecutive to any sentence imposed for the remaining firearms offense.
The incident was one of a string of attacks at Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls in the south Puget Sound region between 2018 and 2020. An arsonist hit two Kingdom Halls on March 19 – one in Tumwater and the other in Olympia. Another fire scorched the Olympia Kingdom Hall in July.
Eight Jehovah's Witness properties in the area were vandalized, either in the form of fires or gunshots during those two years.
Layes has not been connected to any of the other crimes.
No one was hurt in any of the incidents.