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WaPo: Oklahoma man charged in anti-government bomb plot

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...b_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.f9eec68787cc

The FBI has arrested an Oklahoma man on charges that he tried to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb outside a bank, acting out of a hatred for the U.S. government and an admiration for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy Mc­Veigh, according to court papers.

Jerry Drake Varnell was arrested shortly after a Friday night attempt to detonate a fake bomb packed into what he believed was a stolen cargo van outside the bank in Oklahoma City, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.

According to the complaint, over the course of a months-long undercover investigation by the FBI, Varnell made repeated statements about the extent of his hatred of the federal government.

In one conversation he said he believed in the “Three Percenter” ideology — a form of anti-government activism that pledges resistance against the United States government on the belief it has infringed on the Constitution, according to court papers. Those who subscribe to the ideology incorrectly believe that only 3 percent of the colonial population participated in the American Revolution, and they see themselves as their heirs.

...

Authorities are expected to announce his arrest later Monday.
 

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
Yikes, he sounds like one of those people that thinks they can get out of a ticket by saying "I'm traveling." It starts there and then spins off into nonsense about ink types and secret bank accounts.
 

Karkador

Banned
The GOP and Fox News will probably distance themselves from this because Three Percenters have a more specific cause that isn't "white nationalist" in the 2017, "loves America" sense
 

HeySeuss

Member
He tried to detonate a bomb he knew was fake? How does that work?

He didn't know it was fake. The FBI controlled the purchase of him buying the bomb and sold him a fake bomb he believed to be real. They then planned the bombing with him to see if he would follow through with the plan and arrested him.

It was a setup operation.
 

Eidan

Member
I was just watching a documentary on the Oklahoma City bombing on Netflix a couple of weeks ago.

We need to start taking far-right terrorists more seriously in this country.
 
Statement
DHM8ulVVwAApGH7


But the White House would like to pretend that domestic terrorism isn't really a thing.
 

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
I am assuming the bank was closed when he made his attempt since it was Friday night. Though obviously he needs to spend the rest of his life in jail regardless because he is still a dangerous terrorist.
 
I'm confused as to how he got a fake bomb. I can't read the full article as I'm hit by a paywall. Almost wonder if FBI and others noted his extremist behavior and tested to see how far he would take it.


Edit: I just saw the above statement posted. Looks like I was correct.
Those who subscribe to the ideology incorrectly believe that only 3 percent of the colonial population participated in the American Revolution, and they see themselves as their heirs.
They are so desperate to feel important that they are appointing themselves as the chosen one's. Through something completely contrived and nonsensical.
 

NoName999

Member
What is it with losers like these that always come up some convoluted theory that THEY somehow deserve to run the world?

Like even if the ideology succeeds, they're still more likely to remain losers or be pawns for the slaughter when they're no longer useful.
 
I am assuming the bank was closed when he made his attempt since it was Friday night. Though obviously he needs to spend the rest of his life in jail regardless because he is still a dangerous terrorist.
Yeah, the full WaPo article (which is like 2 paragraphs more than what's in the OP) mentions he wanted to cause property damage but minimize casualties.
 

Quixzlizx

Member
Valid concern. I'm wary of the feds finding dumbasses with a susceptible ideology and, well, pushing them into trying to commit some sort of terrorist attack.

Asking someone to commit a crime is entrapment.

Enabling someone to fuck up before they manage to stumble into possession of an actual bomb is good police work
 
Valid concern. I'm wary of the feds finding dumbasses with a susceptible ideology and, well, pushing them into trying to commit some sort of terrorist attack.
Yeah I'm concerned about this too. However, it's possible that he was already plotting to do something like this and the FBI was taking pre-emptive measures to prevent a terrorist attack.
 
Asking someone to commit a crime is entrapment.

Enabling someone to fuck up before they manage to stumble into possession of an actual bomb is good police work
Yeah, it's more like some of these people they manage to get with these methods are pretty incompetent and probably would never be able to pull off the plot without a pro helping them. They're still dangerous people who risked finding a real person with similar goals to help, but it's not as, uh, substantial of an accomplishment as foiling an honest-to-god legit terror attack.
 

Saganator

Member
Would be awesome if an FBI agent picked up after the terrorist dialed the detonation number, "Boom, you're under arrest motherfucker"
 
My wife works for the federal government. If some right wing terrorist kills her while she's working I would likely lose my mind.

Why do these mentally deficient Neanderthals always want to attack innocent people that have nothing to do with their perceived grievances?
 
My wife works for the federal government. If some right wing terrorist kills her while she's working I would likely lose my mind.

Why do these mentally deficient Neanderthals always want to attack innocent people that have nothing to do with their perceived grievances?

Because they're terrorists. They want everyone to be afraid that it could happen to them.
 

Dali

Member
They are so desperate to feel important that they are appointing themselves as the chosen one's. Through something completely contrived and nonsensical.
Just like antivaxxers, flat earthers, and I'd add climate change deniers, people that think the world is only a few thousand years old and people that don't believe evolution is a thing, but I don't even know if that would make them feel special seeing as how that's basically the Republican party.
 
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