Authorities have unmasked the Nashville drone terror plot suspect, 24-year-old Skyler Philippi, who appeared in court documents wearing a skull mask and showing off homemade bombs in a foiled effort to blow up the Music City power grid.
He is accused of plotting to blow up a power station with a bomb-laden drone that authorities say was “powered up” when they arrested him in a parking lot near the target.
Federal prosecutors will ask the judge to order him jailed as he awaits trial at a hearing on Nov. 13, arguing that “no condition or combination of [bail] conditions will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community.”
FBI THWARTS MAN’S ALLEGED PLAN TO ATTACK NASHVILLE POWER GRID WITH EXPLOSIVE-LADEN DRONE
Skyler Robert Philippi, 24, pictured in his Nashville mugshot wearing the same skeleton shirt he posed with while holding the alleged bombs in a plot to blow up the Music City’s power grid. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department)
Prosecutors described Philippi as an alleged “accelerationist,” which the Anti-Defamation League defines as “a term White supremacists have assigned to their desire to hasten the collapse of society as we know it” with roots that go back to Marxism.
“If you want to do the most damage as an accelerationist, attack high economic, high tax, political zones in every major metropolis,” Philippi wrote in a text message to a government informant, according to the criminal complaint.
The informant later introduced him to two undercover FBI agents who helped halt the plot before the drone, armed with a live bomb, could take off.
Philippi allegedly discussed committing a mass shooting at a YMCA and derailing a train with antisemitic motives, according to the complaint.
A selfie that prosecutors say shows Skyler Philippi and two undercover agents posing with bombs intended for his alleged plot to blow up Nashville’s power grid. Philippi, on the right, is pictured wearing the same shirt in his mugshot. (Department of Justice)
Philippi allegedly claimed past affiliation with White supremacist groups, blamed the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on “a Jewish person” and told another informant he got into a shootout with a Black man in Lousiville, Kentucky, according to the complaint.
He researched past attacks on the power grid and concluded that damaging eight or more power stations at once would cripple the country, and he allegedly planned to use a homemade drone equipped with explosives.
When the FBI moved to arrest him, they found him in the back seat of a car with the drone and a live bomb, according to the criminal complaint. Moments earlier, he allegedly gave his gun to one of the informants, who he thought was going to be a lookout.
Skyler Philippi pictured as he met with undercover agents in an open area near Franklin, Tennessee, to test fly a drone, according to federal prosecutors. (Department of Justice)
“As alleged, the defendant in this case conducted extensive research into explosive devices and potential targets to launch an attack against critical infrastructure,” Joe Carrico, the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Nashville Field Office, said in a statement. “The FBI is committed to doing everything in our ability to detect, disrupt, and deter attacks by domestic violent extremists, and will continue to pursue those who look to commit acts of violence in furtherance of their ideological beliefs.”
Philippi faces charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility.
He has not yet entered a plea.
Read the criminal complaint:
“Driven by a racially motivated violent extremist ideology, the Defendant planned to attack the power grid with a drone and explosives, leaving thousands of Americans and critical infrastructure like hospitals without power,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement.
“The FBI’s swift work led to the detection and disruption of the defendant’s plot before he could cause any damage. We are committed to holding accountable anyone who threatens the security of our critical infrastructure or seeks to harm American communities through domestic violent extremism.”