Terrorism

Law & Crime reports: Anthony Quinn Warner of Antioch, Tenn., the suspected Nashville suicide bomber, was apparently a fervent believer in bizarre conspiracy theories culled from the pages of science fiction and the British conspiracy theorist David Icke. To wit: Warner was a follower of the popular conspiratorial belief that shapeshifting reptilians and so-called “lizard people” control the levers of …

NBC News reports: Investigators are exploring several conspiracy theories as potential motives behind the Christmas Day bombing outside an AT&T building in Nashville, including evidence that the bomber believed in lizard people and a so-called reptilian conspiracy, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News on Wednesday. Specifically, investigators are looking into the suspect’s previous trips to an undisclosed location …

The Tennessean reports: Sixteen months before Anthony Quinn Warner’s RV exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, officers visited his home in Antioch after his girlfriend reported that he was making bombs in the vehicle, according to documents obtained by The Tennessean. On Friday, 63-year-old Warner blew up a city block, police say, about 6:30 a.m. on Second Avenue outside …

The Associated Press reports: With federal officials having identified the man believed to be behind Nashville’s Christmas Day bombing, authorities now turn to the monumental task of piecing together the motive behind the explosion that severely damaged dozens of downtown buildings and injured three people. While officials on Sunday named Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, as the man behind the mysterious …

The Associated Press reports: Federal authorities identified on Sunday the man they say is responsible for the Christmas Day bombing and said that he died in the explosion. Investigators used DNA to link the man, identified as Anthony Quinn Warner, to the blast. They said they believe no one else was involved. BREAKING: U.S. attorney: Man suspected of setting off …

Nashville’s NBC News affiliate reports: FBI agents working the Nashville Christmas bombing are asking around about whether Anthony Quinn Warner — a local computer expert named as a “person of interest” — was paranoid about 5G technology. Agents are probing if Warner, 63, feared that 5G technology was being used to spy on Americans, a source close to the investigation …

Nashville’s ABC News affiliate reports: A large explosion was reported in downtown Nashville early Christmas morning. The explosion happened in the area of Second Avenue and Broadway near Commerce Street occurred around 6:30 am Friday. Heavy black smoke could be seen rising above the affected area. MNPD, FBI, and ATF are investigating the explosion of an RV outside 166 2nd …

The Washington Post reports: A website designed to raise $2 million in defense funds for Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager charged with killing two men and injuring a third during street protests in Kenosha, Wis., in August, has prompted concerns among experts who call it a dangerous step toward injecting brand marketing into criminal defense. The website, which went live …

Via press release from the Justice Department: The Department of Justice announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Cholo Abdi Abdullah with six counts of terrorism-related offenses arising from his activities as an operative of the foreign terrorist organization al Shabaab, including conspiring to hijack aircraft in order to conduct a 9/11-style attack in the United States. Abdullah was arrested …

The Detroit Free Press reports: A Michigan sheriff who suggested the men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer may have been attempting a citizen’s arrest has filed a federal lawsuit alleging voter fraud and seeking to preserve records related to the Nov. 3 election. Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf alleges in the lawsuit filed Sunday, without providing evidence, …

The Washington Post reports: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had just finished wrapping string lights around her home’s portico on Saturday evening and was about to watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with her 4-year-old son when a crowd of protesters marched up carrying American flags and guns. About two dozen protesters chanted “Stop the Steal” and accused Benson, …

ABC News reports: John M. Pierce, a California lawyer who has employed war-like rhetoric in his advocacy and fundraising for Kyle Rittenhouse filed a motion to withdraw from Rittenhouse’s criminal case, just hours after prosecutors alleged in a court filing Thursday that Pierce’s reported financial problems raised ethical concerns and a potential conflict of interest. Kenosha County prosecutor Thomas Binger …

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: A lawyer for Kyle Rittenhouse used Rittenhouse’s preliminary hearing to offer a sneak preview of the self-defense he will raise at a trial over shootings that killed two people and wounded a third during unrest in Kenosha in August. But efforts to have two of six counts against the Illinois teen dismissed were denied by …

San Antonio’s NBC News affiliate reports: A man has been arrested for allegedly sending multiple emails threatening a local church, using political, racial and religious themes. William Edward Bender, 55, allegedly began sending these emails to the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit & Kids of the Kingdom Episcopal School. An email from Nov. 8 allegedly details an interaction Bender …

The CBC reports: The man who killed six people in a Quebec City mosque in 2017 received a “cruel and unusual” punishment when he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years, Quebec’s Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday. In a unanimous decision, the court reduced Alexandre Bissonnette’s life sentence to 25 years without …

NBC News reports: Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teen charged with fatally shooting two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was released from the Kenosha County Jail Monday after posting $2 million bond, according to authorities. Rittenhouse’s bond was posted at 2 p.m. Friday, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s office. In a tweet Friday, Rittenhouse’s attorney Lin Wood said “God bless ALL …

NBC News reports: Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager charged with killing two men during the Jacob Blake protests in Wisconsin this summer, made bail on Friday and walked out of jail, officials said. “Kyle Rittenhouse’s bond was posted this afternoon at about 2:00 pm which was set up through his attorney,” Kenosha County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Wright said in a …

ABC News reports: There is new and disturbing information in the alleged militia plot against the governor of Michigan. The 14 men charged had far more violent plans than just a kidnapping, according to federal and state authorities. New filings claim there was a Plan B the militiamen had drawn up, that involved a takeover of the Michigan capitol building …

The New York Daily News reports: The teenage gunman charged with killing two Wisconsin protesters this summer paid for the assault-style rifle used in the shooting with money he got from a taxpayer-funded stimulus program, he said in a jailhouse interview published Thursday. Kyle Rittenhouse, who is too young to legally carry a firearm in the state unless he’s hunting, …

The Washington Post reports: Hate-crime killings reached a record last year in the United States, due in large part to the mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso that officials say was motivated by anti-immigrant bias, according to figures released Monday by the FBI. There were 51 hate-crime killings in 2019, the highest number since the FBI began tabulating …