August 14, 2017
From various media sources –
A Sayre man was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court this afternoon in Oklahoma City after being arrested early Saturday after authorities say he tried to blow up a bank in Oklahoma City.
23-year-old Jerry Drake Varnell tried to detonate what he thought was a vehicle bomb Saturday at the BancFirst headquarters in Oklahoma City.
According to the FBI, the device, which Varnell believed to be a bomb, was inert.
He was captured around 1 a.m. after he attempted to detonate what he thought was an explosives-laden van in the alley next to the bank.
The complaint says Varnell initially wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., with a device similar to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing at the Murrah Federal Building because he was upset with the government.
Varnell has allegedly claimed to embrace the “Three Percenter” ideology, referring to a far-right anti-government group.
This is the same group that Jeremy Hardy has allegedly been linked. Hardy is the Pasadena, Texas man that is set to stand trial in mid-January in the I-40 shooting deaths of a Lone Wolf woman and an Arapaho man in December of 2015.
According to Mark Yancey, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, the FBI was tipped off to the plot by a confidential informant. FBI sent agents posing as someone who could help Varnell.
Varnell allegedly claimed to have experience making small bombs, but was convinced by an undercover agent, posing as an explosives expert nicknamed “Professor,” that the agent should provide the supplies. Ultimately, FBI officials say Varnell was provided with faux bomb making materials. He was closely monitored for months as the alleged bomb plot developed during a long-term domestic terror investigation.
Varnell allegedly later identified BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City as his target. When asked why he switched from the government building, he allegedly said, “Well I don’t wanna kill a bunch of people.”
Additionally, the complaint says Varnell prepared a statement to be posted on social media after the explosion. His actions also allegedly included helping to assemble what he thought was the explosive device and load it into what he believed was a stolen van. Varnell then drove the van from El Reno to BancFirst where he dialed a number on a cellphone he believed would trigger the explosion.
BancFirst officials said they had been cooperating with the FBI and that no employees were ever in danger.
Varnell is charged with attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce. If convicted, he would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.
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OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — U.S. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma says it’s chilling that someone would want to commit an act of terror in Oklahoma City as a tribute to the deadly 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
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