On the eve of the violent confrontation between racist hate groups and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, Jerry Drake Varnell was trying to detonate a 1,000-pound truck bomb in oklahoma as a tribute to the famously tragic bombing by Timothy McVeigh in 1995.

In an article titled: "Suspect arrested after foiled car bombing plot in downtown OKC" KWTV News 9 in Oklahoma reported the FBI made the arrest early Saturday morning after surveilling Varnell for months in an undercover operation. The report indicates the bomb was fake.

Tribute and condemnation for Oklahoma terrorist plot

Varnell was trying to detonate the van in an alley that was next to a BancFirst building. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a release saying that Varnell was upset with the government much like McVeigh claimed to be when he used a similar bomb that killed 168 people and injured over 600. The bombing destroyed a federal building in downtown in 1995 and McVeigh was executed for it in 2001.

BancFirst released their statement assuring everyone that they had been cooperating with the FBI and that at no time was anyone in any real danger. Senators. James Lankford (R-OK) and Jim Inhofe also released statements applauding the FBI for the arrest, denouncing home-grown extremism and radicalization in communities.

Nationalist violence in two places at once

As the investigation was winding down to an arrest, a similar kind of extremism was present on Friday night around the status of confederate symbol General Robert.

E. Lee, where Neo-Nazis and white nationalists were carrying torches and protesting against the removal of the statue. Fighting broke out between those hate groups and counter-protesters which picked up again the following day. The fighting turned deadly when a white nationalist drove their car into a crowd of counter-protesters killing one and injuring 19.

Two police officers were also killed when their helicopter that was monitoring the conflict crashed.

Varnell's association with Three Percenters

The Washington Post reported in an article titled: "Oklahoma man charged in anti-government bomb plot", which said that Varnell associated himself with the 3 percenter ideology. A group that represent themselves as an anti-government resistance group that has built up their presence over the years. 3 Percenters have been involved in various high-profile incidents such as the Brady Family protests, following Black Lives Matter protest groups and watching voting locations. It was reported by the group's leader that they would be watching for voting fraud and pledged their support for Donald Trump.

Reuters reported in an article last year titled: "U.S. militia girds for trouble as presidential election nears" that a Three Percenter security force was ready to incite a new civil war if Hillary Clinton were to win the election. The spokesman for the group, Dylan Hunter did confirm that Varnell was registered with the group since November but that the group has cut him off from the state of Oklahoma's and national rosters. This would mean that Varnell was still a member when he was going through with the bombing.
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