A man suspected of planning to car bomb a hospital in the middle of the coronavirus outbreak died earlier this week following a confrontation with FBI agents.
via Complex:
According to ABC News, Timothy R. Wilson of Missouri was allegedly meeting up with agents, who were undercover, to purchase an explosive device. The 36-year-old Wilson was reportedly armed during the incident, which escalated after the agents attempted to arrest him.
The FBI said Wilson was the “subject of a months-long domestic terrorism investigation” and “a potentially violent extremist.” Wilson died on Tuesday after being transported to a hospital. The agency also said that Wilson was “actively planning to commit an act of domestic terrorism—a bombing—and over the course of several months had considered several targets.” Citing sources, ABC News said that one of those potential targets included a school with mainly black students. The New York Times reported that Wilson also considered attacking a synagogue and a mosque.
“With the current health crisis, Wilson decided to accelerate his plan to use a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in an attempt to cause severe harm and mass casualties,” the FBI said in a statement, per KSHB. “Wilson considered various targets and ultimately settled on an area hospital in an attempt to harm many people, targeting a facility that is providing critical medical care in today’s environment.”
This latest news comes on the heels of the FBI raising its threat assessment of domestic white supremacist terrorists to a “national threat priority.” FBI Director Christopher Wray compared the threat as being “on the same footing” as that of ISIS. Then, earlier this month, it was reported that federal law enforcement were looking into discussions among white supremacist neo-Nazis to weaponize the coronavirus.
We’re relieved he wasn’t able to go through with his plan.
