The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) advised the FBI that the truck driven by Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood arsonist was likely never sold in Tennessee.
Image: GMC Sierra pickup truck driven by Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood arsonist Image Credit: Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi
Submitted by Jenny Hay [Knoxville Nobility] –
According to newly released FBI records, the man who burned down Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood on December 31, 2021, drove a red GMC Sierra pick-up truck that was never distributed in Tennessee or surrounding states. Yet the pro-life Catholic man whom the FBI accused of this crime, Mark Reno, purchased his truck in Tennessee.
In response to our FOIA lawsuit, the FBI has begun releasing records related to Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood arson. Links to released records are provided at the end of this article. The FBI has proposed a schedule lasting 28 years for producing all records. We intend to challenge this schedule.
In the course of its investigation, the FBI submitted screenshots of the arsonist’s vehicle to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) for analysis. In response, the NICB provided a partial Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for the arsonist’s truck, considering its year, color, make, model, wheels, and trim. The NICB also queried their own database and found that no vehicles of the same kind had ever been reported as stolen or totaled in Tennessee, even though the model was at least 15 years old. This strange finding motivated an explanation: “NICB advises these vehicles could have been shipped to the West Coast and never sold in TN or surrounding regions (GA, AL, NC, etc.)”
The man the FBI accused of this arson, Mark Reno, moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Jefferson City, Tennessee, in the spring of 2020. However, Reno purchased his GMC Sierra after moving to Tennessee, according to his daughter.
A “VIN” is a 17-digit alpha-numeric code which is unique for every automobile. Different sub-strings of the VIN encode features of the vehicle, so that one who is skilled can know many of the 17 digits by looking at a photograph of the vehicle. Not all the digits can be known from a photograph, however, because some are reserved for serialization so that every automobile has a unique VIN.
The FBI redacted the partial VIN provided by the NICB on the grounds that revealing it would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy and would unduly disclose techniques and procedures used by law enforcement. Under our lawsuit, we intend to challenge these claimed exceptions to FOIA, because the partial VIN does not identify a particular vehicle, but only a class of vehicles. Further, the means for obtaining it were routine.
The partial VIN provided by the NICB may confirm or rule out Mark Reno as the arsonist, because court records reveal the full VIN of Reno’s GMC Sierra: 1GTEC19T46Z147636. Reno’s truck would be ruled out if its VIN does not include all the digits of the partial VIN. Given the rarity of the vehicle in the southeast, Reno would be confirmed as the arsonist if his truck’s VIN really does contain all the digits of the partial VIN.
The NICB is a private organization dedicated to preventing and detecting insurance fraud. They maintain a nationwide database of vehicles which have been reported as stolen or totaled. Because of their expertise in vehicle identification, they are often consulted by law-enforcement agencies for help with identifying vehicles involved in crimes.
The FBI queried the Tennessee Department of Revenue (TDR) for red GMC Sierras registered in Knox, Sevier, or Jefferson County manufactured between 2003 and 2006. However, it does not appear that the FBI queried TDR records for the partial VIN provided by the NICB. Such a query was certainly possible, because the registration record for every vehicle includes its VIN.
The FBI also pulled Reno’s vehicle registration records from the TDR. The FBI redacted the VIN for Reno’s GMC Sierra, but they left the VIN for his Ford Fusion revealed.
The newly released FBI records reveal other aspects of the investigation into Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood arson.
Early in its investigation, the FBI queried law enforcement agencies in East Tennessee for stops of red GMC Sierras or Chevrolet Silverados. (Sierras and Silverados have the same body type.) They may have made these queries because the arsonist’s vehicle had one headlight out. None of these queries found that Mark Reno had been stopped. (We know that Reno was not stopped, because all the names have been redacted from these records. If Reno had been stopped, the FBI would not have redacted his name from the record for the stop.)
Because Mark Reno had moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Jefferson City, Tennessee, in the spring of 2020, the FBI queried the Albuquerque police and fire departments for reports of arson attempts against the Planned Parenthood there, but there were no such reports.
Mark Reno was never formally charged with Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood arson. The Justice Department accused him by means of a press release on November 1, 2022. Another accusation made in the very same press release—that Reno shot at the John J. Duncan Federal Building in Knoxville on June 18, 2022—has been proven false by records from the Federal Protective Service (FPS). On that day, a window was broken, but the FPS investigator thought the damage was caused by debris from nearby construction.
By the time the Justice Department pinned him for the Planned Parenthood arson, Reno was dead. He had been arrested for another alleged shooting at the Duncan building on July 3, 2022, though no bullets, fragments, or casings were ever found. He died in federal custody 28 days after his arrest; the official cause of death was a hemorrhaging ulcer.
According to an affidavit written by an FBI agent, the FBI had been surveilling Reno for months prior to his arrest, ever since he told an undercover investigator at a pro-life event that he had participated in the protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The FBI seized Reno’s GMC Sierra and his Ford Fusion from his daughter and widow by civil asset forfeiture on October 28, 2022.
The author gratefully acknowledges Knoxville-area families for generously supporting our FOIA lawsuit and Mrs. Taylor Williams (nee Breeden) for her keen editing.
Newly released FBI records pertaining to Knoxville Planned Parenthood arson:
2022-03-17 Queries to regional police on stops of red Sierras or Silverados
2022-03-31 Request to surveil Reno
2022-04-14 FBI Knoxville opens full investigation for FACE Act violations
2022-04-15 Reno is person of interest
2022-04-15 FBI plan for April 26 TCAPP rally citing Diocese of Knoxville
2022-04-15 Reno truck info, VIN redacted
2022-04-22 FBI payment request heavily redacted
2022-04-27 Surveillance video entered as evidence
2022-04-27 Request to physically surveil Reno
2022-04-28 Email about Reno heavily redacted
2022-05-06 NICB analysis of arsonist vehicle
2022-05-06 FBI awareness briefing
2022-05-06 Query for owners of Sierra and Fusion
2022-05-09 FBI memo re LPR photo of Reno truck on 2022-03-25
2022-05-09 NICB analysis of car in Planned Parenthood shooting
2022-05-16 Reno vehicle registrations
2022-05-19 FBI memo completely redacted
2022-05-19 FBI memo re operational plan
2022-05-20 FBI memo re email and photos
2022-05-24 FBI evidence log for surveillance video
2022-05-26 TN Dept Rev query for 200X red GMC Sierras
2022-05-26 Payment request heavily redacted
2022-06-02 FBI communication cover completely redacted
2022-06-02 KPD officer safety caution
2022-06-03 Payment request heavily redacted
2022-06-09 Planned Parenthood case meeting with another org
2022-06-09 No arson incidents at PP in Albuquerque
2024-10-30 FBI FOIA response email with production schedule
About the Author: Jenny Hay is the founder of Knoxville Nobility, a Substack publication for local pro-life, pro-family news and insights, including firsthand reporting on Knoxville’s 2021 Planned Parenthood arson.
One Response
Yup, lucifer’s dimmercrap FBI undercover investigator at a pro-life event.