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Northern California man held on $ 5 million bail after FBI investigators discovered five “fully operational” homemade bombs and an illegal weapons stockpile at his home and business two weeks ago predicted to blow up offices owned by Gov. Gavin Newsom, as well as Facebook and Twitter, prosecutors say.
Ian Benjamin Rogers, 44, of Napa, Calif., Also had a sticker on his vehicle commonly used by so-called “Three Percenters”, and officers executing search warrants also found a “White Privilege Card” and several gun manuals, including some from the US military, as well as “The Anarchist Cookbook,” FBI investigators said.
Rogers was charged Tuesday in a federal criminal complaint with possession of five homemade bombs that were unregistered destructive devices, U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson and FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig D. Fair said in a statement Wednesday. .
If found guilty, the charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $ 250,000, prosecutors said.
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He was arrested on January 15, the same day that the FBI Joint Task Force on Terrorism, the Napa County Sheriff’s Office and the Napa Special Investigations Office executed a search warrant on his home and in his business in Napa County. A total of 49 firearms were seized at the two locations, along with about two dozen ammunition boxes containing thousands of rounds, authorities said.
Several of the guns, including what appears to be a belt-fed MG-42 machine gun kit replica, appear to be capable of fully automatic fire, Terrorist Squad-assigned FBI Agent Stephanie Minor National to the FBI’s San Francisco Field. Office, written in an affidavit submitted in support of the criminal complaint filed against Rogers.
Five homemade bombs were found in a safe at Roger’s company, along with other materials that could be used to craft destructive devices, including black powder, pipes, tips and manuals, including including “The Anarchist Cookbook,” the “US Army Improvised Munitions Handbook” and “C-4 A Homemade Recipe for Survival,” according to the affidavit. Two copies of the “US Army Special Forces Guide to Non-Warfare Conventional ”and a“ US Army Guerrilla Manual ”have also been discovered.
FBI agents found five homemade bombs in a safe at Rogers. (Department of Justice)
The sticker found on Roger’s vehicle is believed to be commonly used by the so-called “Three Percent,” who are “people who subscribe to extremist anti-government and pro-gun beliefs,” Minor wrote, citing his training, experience and discussions. with other agents experienced in national terrorist investigations. Their use of “three percent” is a reference to the belief that only 3% of American settlers fought against the British during the American Revolution, according to the affidavit.
Officers also found a “white privilege card,” which included the statement “Trumps Everything” and the numbers “0045” repeated four times “to make it look like a credit card number,” which Minor said are references to former President Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States.
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In an interview after his arrest, Rogers allegedly admitted he built the homemade bombs, but said “they were for entertainment purposes only” – though additional evidence suggests otherwise, according to the affidavit.
Minor said text messages retrieved from Rogers’ phone would have demonstrated his belief that Trump “won the 2020 presidential election and his intention to attack Democrats and places associated with Democrats in an effort to ensure that Trump remained in power “.
“We can attack Twitter or whatever Democrats you choose,” Rogers reportedly wrote in a Jan. 10 text message to another person, adding, “I think we can attack either easily.” The recipient suggested lashing out at George Soros, to which Rogers replied: “We can attack Twitter and the Democrats easily right now burn they’re dead.”
Officers found a “white privilege card” while executing search warrants on Rogers’ home and business. (Department of Justice)
“I want to blow up a Democratic building,” Rogers reportedly wrote in another text message to the same person the next day. He continued, “Let’s see what happens, if nothing goes, I’m going to go to war.”
“Democrats, Twitter, etc.,” Rogers reportedly wrote, adding, “I hope 45 go to war if they don’t, I will.”
His next text messages apparently suggested attacks on the office of the Democratic Governor of California, as well as the offices of Facebook and Twitter, which are all located in northern California, according to authorities.
“Let’s see what happens so we act,” Rogers reportedly wrote, adding, “I think the bag office is the first target” and “So maybe the bird and face offices”.
Officers found a “Three Percenter” sticker on Rogers’ truck. (Department of Justice)
The affidavit concludes, “that when Rogers said, ‘bag office first objective,’ he meant that their first target should be the offices of California Governor Gavin Newsom in Sacramento.”
“I further believe that when Rogers said the ‘bird and face’ offices would be next, he was referring to the Twitter (‘bird’) and Facebook (‘face’) offices, as both social media platforms had locked Trump’s accounts to prevent him from sending messages on these platforms, ”Minor wrote.
Examination and testing by a bomb technician from the Napa County Sheriff’s Office on the five homemade bombs seized from the Rogers business concluded that Rogers had “constructed 5 improvised explosive devices which were fully operational and could cause harm. serious bodily harm or injury if not handled properly ”.
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Rogers has appeared in Napa County Criminal Court on illegal firearms charges and is state-held in lieu of $ 5 million bail pending a preliminary hearing.
Federal prosecutors intend to request an appearance for Rogers in federal court on the charges of the complaint “after the issuance of a federal order to transfer Rogers to the United States district court in San Francisco,” a the northern California district attorney’s office said in its press release on Wednesday. The date of this appearance has not yet been set.
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