Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 15 augusT 2017
‘Out for blood’: Man arrested in plan to bomb Oklahoma bank

By TIM TALLEY curity and Governmental Officials said Varnell ini-
Associated Press Affairs Committee, said the tially wanted to blow up
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A allegations are a somber the Federal Reserve Build-
23-year-old man who was reminder that Americans ing in Washington, D.C.,
“out for blood” when he must remain vigilant about with a device similar to
attempted to detonate home-grown extremism one used in the 1995 Okla-
what he believed was an and radicalization in local homa City bombing that
explosives-laden van out- communities. destroyed the Alfred P.
side an Oklahoma bank in On Saturday, a rally by Murrah Federal Building,
a plot similar to the deadly white nationalists and oth- killing 168 people and in-
1995 bombing of the Okla- ers opposed to a plan to juring hundreds more. In a
homa City federal building, remove a statue of Con- series of text messages with
authorities said Monday. federate Gen. Robert E. the FBI’s informant, Varnell
During a meeting with Lee from a Charlottesville, “claimed to have a bun-
undercover FBI agents in Virginia, park turned vio- ker for when the world (or
June, Jerry Drake Varnell lent and led to the death United States) collapsed”
of Sayre, Oklahoma, said of a 32-year-old woman and indicated he was try-
he held “III% ideology” and who was struck by a car ing to build a team, the
wanted “to start the next allegedly driven by a man complaint states.
revolution,” a reference into a crowd of people “I’m out for blood,” the
to the “Three Percenters” protesting the rally. A Vir- complaint quotes Varnell’s
patriot movement — be- ginia State Police helicop- texts. “When militias start
gun in 2008, galvanized by This photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Correc- ter deployed in a large- getting formed I’m going
President Barack Obama’s tions shows Jerry Drake Varnell, of Sayre, Okla., who was ar- scale police response to after government officials
election — and that has rested Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, in connection with a plot to the violence then crashed when I have a team.”
rallied against gun control detonate a vehicle bomb in an alley adjacent to BancFirst in into the woods outside of But an undercover FBI
efforts and pledges resis- downtown Oklahoma City. Authorities said Varnell is expected town and both troopers on agent posed as someone
to be formally charged Monday, Aug, 14.
tance to the federal gov- (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP) board died. who could help Varnell
ernment over the infringe- A federal complaint filed build a bomb and the de-
ment of constitutional Oklahoma City. Varnell is and remains in the custody on Sunday says a confi- vice used was actually
rights. charged with attempting of federal marshals. Court dential informant told the inert, authorities said. Var-
Federal officials arrested to use explosives to de- records do not indicate FBI in December that Var- nell’s actions were moni-
Varnell early Saturday in stroy a building in interstate whether Varnell is repre- nell wanted to blow up a tored closely for months as
connection with a plot to commerce. sented by an attorney. building and “that Varnell the plot developed.
detonate a vehicle bomb Varnell made an initial ap- U.S. Sen. James Lankford of was upset with the govern- “There was never a con-
in an alley adjacent to pearance before a federal Oklahoma, a member of ment and was seeking re- cern that our community’s
BancFirst in downtown judge Monday afternoon the Senate Homeland Se- taliation.” safety or security was at risk
during this investigation,”
said Kathryn Peterson, spe-
cial agent in charge of the
FBI in Oklahoma.
The undercover agent met
face-to-face with him on
June 1 to discuss obtain-
ing materials for an am-
monium nitrate and fuel
oil bomb similar to the one
used in the Oklahoma City
bombing, the complaint
states. Varnell indicated at
the meeting that he had
previously made home-
made explosives and that
he “was of the same mind
with people who wanted to
use explosives and make a
statement,” the complaint
says. “Something needs
to be done,” Varnell said,
but killing a lot of people
was not a good idea, ac-
cording to the complaint.
During text conversations
in July, Varnell stated he
wanted to conduct the
attack after closing hours
to prevent casualties but
conceded that some bank
workers or custodians who
were inside the building
could be killed or injured in
the blast, it says.q