Nashville, Tennessee — The Department of Justice announced on Monday that federal agents had arrested a man in Tennessee with ties to white nationalist groups. The man was charged with trying to destroy a Nashville energy plant with what he thought was an explosive-filled drone.
Court papers say that 24-year-old Skyler Philippi planned to destroy an electric substation in Nashville by attaching several pounds of C-4 explosives to an aerial drone.
Recently made public court records show that Philippi reportedly told an FBI informant in July that he planned to attack several power substations to “shock the system.” Later, that secret source put Philippi in touch with an undercover FBI agent, who then started to get information about Philippi’s plan from other undercover agents.
“Philippi looked into past attacks on electric substations and came to the conclusion that using guns would not be enough,” an FBI special agent named Angelo DeFeo wrote in court records made public on Monday. Philippine planned to use a drone with explosives on it and fly it into the center like this:
Philippi reportedly told undercover police that he was a member of a number of white nationalist and extremist groups, such as the National Alliance, which wants to get rid of Jews and people of other races. Extremist groups like these are looking more and more at hitting the US power grid as a way to mess up the country.
Along with its 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, the U.S. grid is made up of more than 6,400 power plants.
Philippi gave the undercover police officers parts of his so-called manifesto in September. The manifesto was mostly about protecting the white race.
On Saturday, Philippi and undercover workers drove to the place where he planned to launch his rocket from Nashville and got ready to fly a drone that Philippi thought had three pounds of C-4 on it, according to the police. Documents from court show that the undercover workers gave the information.
Police nabbed Philippi soon after they got to the scene of the crime.
Skyler Philippi was charged with a crime and thought he was about to attack a Nashville energy plant to further his violent white supremacist beliefs. However, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement that the FBI had already ruined his plans.
Philippi was given a federal public defender to represent him, and on Monday, a message was sent to the lawyer asking for a response. Philippi is set to go to court on November 13.
Source: Man Arrested for Allegedly Plotting to Destroy Nashville Power Facility, Say Federal Officials
