A Minnesota man who reportedly told police he was "pro-mass shooter" and was preparing for a violent exchange with law enforcement was arrested Thursday after trying to purchase grenades during an FBI sting operation.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said in a news release Friday that River William Smith, 20, of the Minneapolis suburb of Savage faces charges of one count of possession of a machine gun and one count of attempt to receive and possess destructive devices. He appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis and remained in jail.
The U.S. attorney's office said Smith told police he sympathized with Nikolas Cruz, convicted in the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, and expressed admiration for Anderson Lee Aldrich, charged in the recent mass shooting at a Colorado Springs, Colorado, gay nightclub.
The investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force discovered Smith had access to fully automatic rifles, handguns, suppressors, body armor, and a Kevlar helmet. The task force said Smith said he was preparing to fight the police and was dedicated to dying in that fight.
The FBI began investigating Smith after receiving a tip Sept. 27 about "troubling behavior" at a gun range. KSTP-TV reported the tipster, an instructor at the gun range, said days earlier he saw Smith wearing heavy-duty body armor and practicing rapid reloads with his handgun.
The FBI task force set up a sting where Smith asked a government informant for grenades and an illegal part called an auto sear that would allow him to convert his AR-15-style rifle into a fully automatic firearm. In a Wednesday meeting supervised by law enforcement, Smith purchased three grenades and four auto sears for his AR-15-style rifle and was then arrested.
According to an FBI affidavit, Smith referred to Aldrich as a "hero," called Black people "agents of Satan," and said he was ready to engage the police "with armor and full autos."
In 2019, multiple media outlets reported Smith, 17, was arrested after he fired an AK-47-style rifle in a house he shared with his grandparents. His grandmother, who received a minor injury to her hand, told police officers she had taken two pistols from Smith and hid them in her closet. The grandparents told police they were concerned for their safety if Smith was released from custody. As part of his probation issued in 2020, Smith was prohibited from owning or using firearms until he was 19.
On Friday, the grandmother, Roberta McCue, told The Associated Press she didn't want to comment because she was "exhausted," but added that she injured her hand in 2019 when she cut it on a doorknob.
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