(5MinNewsBreak.com) – In a shocking development, the FBI revealed that it thwarted a potentially devastating attack on Nashville’s power grid.
24-year-old Skyler Philippi from Columbia, Tennessee, was arrested for attempting to use a drone armed with explosives to destroy a power substation.
“Driven by a racially motivated violent extremist ideology, the Defendant planned to attack the power grid with a drone and explosives, leaving thousands of Americans and critical infrastructure like hospitals without power,” FBI Director Christopher Wray declared.
Philippi, who has ties to white nationalist groups including the National Alliance, allegedly planned to use C-4 explosives attached to a drone to destroy the energy facility.
The suspect’s plot was uncovered through communication with a confidential FBI source and an undercover FBI employee.
Philippi shared parts of his manifesto, which focused on preserving the white race and discussed his plans in detail with these undercover operatives.
“Philippi researched previous attacks on electric substations and concluded that attacking with firearms would not be sufficient,” revealed FBI special agent Angelo DeFeo.
“Philippi, therefore, planned to use a drone with explosives attached to it and to fly the drone into the substation,” DeFeo added.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stated that the FBI frustrated Philippi’s plot before he could carry it out.
“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,” Garland said.
The Department of Justice has charged Philippi with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison.
Philippi’s case is part of a larger pattern of attacks on power infrastructure. In recent years, several sabotage incidents and attempted attacks on substations across the country have occurred.
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