WASHINGTON (AP) – Prosecutors say a U.S. Army soldier shared bomb-making instructions online and also discussed killing activists and bombing a news network. His threats also reportedly targeted a Democratic presidential candidate.
The Justice Department says Monday that Jarrett William Smith was charged with distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction. The 24-year-old was stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas.
The threat rang alarm bells for the Beto O’Rouke campaign, as Smith reportedly mentioned the presidential candidate to an undercover agent.
When an FBI undercover agent asked Jarrett William Smith if there was anyone in Texas who would be a good fit for “fire, destruction and death,” Smith reportedly replied, “Outside of Beto? I don’t know enough people that would be relevant enough to cause a change if they died.”
O’Rourke spokeswoman Aleigha Cavalier said in an emailed statement that they take any threat like this very seriously. The campaign says this isn’t about any one person or one campaign, and they “won’t let this scare us or cause us to back down in fighting for what’s right.”
Prosecutors say Smith discussed his plan to kill “antifa” activists and described how to build a bomb that could be triggered by calling a cell phone. They say he also said on Facebook that he was interested in traveling to Ukraine to fight with a paramilitary group known as Azov Batallion.
Court papers say Smith also suggested targeting a major news network with a car bomb. The news network was reportedly identified as CNN.
The 24-year-old was stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas.
(Associated Press)