The Fbi has foiled an attempt by a 23-year-old man to blow up the BancFirst building in downtown Oklahoma because of his dissatisfaction with the U.S government. The criminal identified as Jerry Varnell had previously wanted to bomb the U.S Federal Reserve Building in Washington D.C but later decided on blowing up a bank in the Oklahoma capital. Jerry was arrested on Sunday last week before he succeeded in blowing up the bank.
Court filings
According to court filings filed at a western district court in Oklahoma, the FBI first found out that Jerry attempted to blow up the Federal Reserve building in Washington D.C.
An undercover FBI agent later approached Jerry with the aim of helping him. After meeting the agent at his resident, Jerry informed the agent about a structure he was constructing on him compound that will act as a hiding place and a place where he will also grow marijuana. The two would later communicate through Facebook's messaging app. In one of the messages, Jerry wrote to the agent that "He is ready to go" (ready to make the bomb). He also informed the officer of his plan to use ammonium nitrate to make the bomb.
Wanted to use ammonium nitrate
In one of the meetings at Jerry's residence, Jerry told the agent that he wants to use 1,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate which can be enough to bomb a five story building.
He also wanted to mix the ammonium nitrate with something else to make a bigger bang. Jerry also talked about his plan to rent a van, fill it with the explosives and detonate the explosives using a remote timer. He also wanted to bomb a building in a manner in which ISIS would not claim responsibility. Jerry wanted to do it in a way that will notify the government that it is 'being targeted'.
He also insisted that he did not want any casualties and wanted to blow up a building after closing hours.
On the 11 of this month, Jerry met with the FBI agent to make the bomb. The bomb was then loaded onto a cargo van which the FBI agent believed was stolen. Jerry drove the van to the BancFirst building in downtown Oklahoma City the next day.
He then parked the van outside the bank and walked to where the FBI agent had parked his car before being arrested after attempting to detonate the bomb.
Statements from government agents
U.S. Attorney Yancey commanded the devotion of the FBI and state law enforcement partners to ensure that such violent plots never succeed. FBI special agent working in Oklahoma said that the community's safety and security were not a concern during the investigations and that Jerry's actions were monitored throughout the investigations.
If convicted, Jerry could be jailed to a maximum of 20 years in prison and a mandatory five-year sentence.
