The FBI have arrested a 20-year-old Minnesota man who was allegedly building an arsenal of weapons and explosives, while idolising the man who killed 5 people and injured 18 others in a recent attack on a gay club.
According to Associated Press, the FBI started investigating River William Smith after a retired police officer alerted them to his behaviour. Smith had allegedly previously expressed interest in joining neo-Nazi paramilitary groups and was already known to authorities due to an incident in 2019 when the then 17-year-old fired an AK-47 assault rifle in his own home, which caused concern for his grandparents.
The FBI arrested Smith this week when he allegedly attempted to buy three hand grenades and four auto sears from an FBI informant. An auto sear is a device that transforms a firearm into an automatic weapon.
Smith allegedly told the FBI informant that he considered Anderson Aldrich, the 22-year-old man charged with the murder of 5 people at the Club Q gay nightclub, to be a “hero”, and he also described Black people as “agents of Satan”, before saying he was ready to engage the police with “amour and full autos”. He will appear in court next week.
According to court documents police attended an incident in 2019 when Smith fired off an AK-47 style rifle in the house when he lived with his grandparents. His grandparents told police that they were forced to hide some of the pistols the teenager had and were concerned for their own safety.
During follow up searches police had found Smith in possession of tactical equipment, fully loaded magazines of ammunition and stockpiles of water and canned food – suggesting the teenager was preparing for a prolonged stand-off. Searches of his electronic devices also showed he had searched for information about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and watched videos of gay people being killed. Police also found an external hard drive that contained information on building bombs.
A probation agreement barred Smith from using or possessing firearms until he turned 19, but authorities now allege that as soon as the teenager was allowed to legally use firearms, he began stockpiling materials.
Minnesota law bars people from buying weapons or ammunition before they turn 18 years old, but teenagers can possess weapons if they are supervised by an adult. Court documents from Smith’s 2019 arrest show that he was previously given a handgun by his mother, and his grandfather had given him as rifle.
The FBI became aware of Smith’s behaviour in September after a report was filed by a retired police officer who was concerned when he saw Smith attending a local shooting range wearing tactical gear, body armor, and a “Punisher” mask. The former officer said he saw Smith practicing rapid reloads of a handgun, while shooting though a plywood barricade he had assembled.
In a media statement the US Justice Department said During their investigation Smith had allegedly voiced support for several recent mass shooters, and was clearly planning his own attack.
“Smith stated he is “pro mass shooting,” sympathized with the Parkland school shooter, and expressed admiration for the individual charged with the recent shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub.” they said. “The FBI also discovered Smith had access to fully automatic rifles, handguns, suppressors, body armor and a Kevlar helmet. Smith stated that he was preparing to fight the police and was dedicated to dying in that fight.”
OIP Staff
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