Skyler Philippi, 24, of Columbia, Tennessee, was arrested by federal agents and charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility.
“As charged, Skyler Philippi believed he was moments away from launching an attack on a Nashville energy facility to further his violent white supremacist ideology – but the FBI had already compromised his plot,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “This case serves as yet another warning to those seeking to sow violence and chaos in the name of hatred by attacking our country’s critical infrastructure: the Justice Department will find you, we will disrupt your plot, and we will hold you accountable. I am grateful to the public servants of the FBI for their extraordinary work on this case and for the work they do every day to keep our country safe.”
“Those fueled by hate and inspired to violence by racial or ethnic bias pose a grave threat to our national security,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. “As alleged in today’s charges, Skyler Philippi, a man dedicated to white supremacist ideology and the destruction of our critical infrastructure, planned to attack Nashville’s power grid using a drone carrying an explosive device. Thanks to brave work by the FBI, his scheme was thwarted. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to identify, disrupt, and hold accountable those who seek to wage such hate-fueled violence, which has no place in America or anywhere else.”
Anybody who has paid any attention to the GWOT, Syrian Civil War, or Russo-Ukrainian War has seen more drones carrying explosives than is healthy.
The only learning needed is how to steer the drone and how to make a bomb that will blow up when you want it to and (and this is probably the most important detail, especially for the bomb maker) not when you don’t.
Quadcopter-mounted explosives are frighteningly simple. And with no physical trigger, they’re frighteningly safe to handle.
Or just a bunch of movies and TV shows have given them ideas.
And you can get drones and RC planes in toy stores for (relatively) cheap that can carry fairly decent loads. Especially if you don’t care about landing them safely.