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Two Californian men have been charged with conspiring to attack Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento, the US Department of Justice said on Friday.
According to the unsealed indictment, Ian Benjamin Rogers, 45, of Napa and Jarrod Copeland, 37, of Vallejo, began plotting to attack Democratic targets after the 2020 presidential election. They also tried to gain the support of an anti-government group to advance the cause.
The indictment does not name the militia group they contacted.
However, in another court file, prosecutors said Copeland emailed far-right group Proud Boys in an attempt to “recruit others to join the plot,” and that he was also a member. of a militia group affiliated with the Three Percenters.
The Proud Boys and the Three Percenters have recently come under scrutiny by the government, after some of their members were indicted in connection with the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.
A Rogers lawyer declined to comment and a Copeland lawyer could not be immediately reached.
In numerous messages they exchanged, the two spoke of blowing up buildings, the Justice Department said.
In an exchange in January 2021, for example, Rogers told Copeland, “I want to blow up a dilapidated Democratic building. “
“I agree,” Copeland replied. “Planning an attack.”
Federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant Jan. 15 at Rogers’ home and seized a stockpile of weapons including 45 to 50 firearms, thousands of cartridges and five homemade bombs.
Prosecutors say Copeland attempted to destroy evidence during the investigation and contacted the leader of a militia group who told him to change communications platforms and suppress the evidence.
Rogers was arrested the day the search warrant was executed and remains in state custody. Copeland was arrested Thursday and will appear for a detention hearing on July 20, the Justice Department said.
In the detention note, prosecutors said Copeland joined the US military in December 2013, but was arrested for desertion in May 2014. He was given a “non-honorable discharge” instead of being translated into court martial.
The memo says Copeland and Rogers were furious after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, and they “understood that they would be considered national terrorists” if they realized their vision of toppling the government American.
Their plot reportedly began on November 25, 2020, as Rogers told Copeland in an encrypted messaging app, “OK bro, we have to hit the enemy in the mouth.
Initially, he says, they discussed the attack on the California governor’s mansion, though the plan later evolved and the Democratic headquarters in California became the target. Other possible targets they discussed included the offices of Twitter and Facebook.
A criminal complaint that indicted Rogers in the case also indicated that they had discussed the attack on Democratic donor George Soros.
The indictment does not allege that Rogers or Copeland were involved in the Jan.6 attack on Capitol Hill.
The FBI is still searching for an unknown suspect who planted explosive devices near the Democratic-Republican committee headquarters on January 5.
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