Man planned to use drone with explosive to attack substation, U.S. says
A 24-year-old Tennessee man was arrested on Saturday moments before he planned to use a drone carrying an explosive to destroy a Nashville power substation to further his “violent white supremacist ideology,” federal prosecutors said Monday.
The man, Skyler Philippi of Columbia, Tenn., had plotted the attack to push an extremist ideology called “accelerationism,” which calls for the complete collapse of American society, according to a criminal complaint prepared by the F.B.I.
Christopher Wray, the F.B.I. director, said in a statement that the attack would have left thousands in the area without power, including some hospitals.
“The FBI’s swift work led to the detection and disruption of the defendant’s plot before he could cause any damage,” he said in the statement.
Mr. Philippi was charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility. If convicted on all charges, he could face life in prison. [Continue reading…]