U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have arrested two white supremacists in Virginia who were planning to attack black churches and Jewish synagogues with guns and bombs, authorities said on Tuesday.
Convicted felons Robert Doyle, 34, and Ronald Chaney, 33, are facing charges for trying to purchase weapons from undercover FBI agents posing as illegal dealers, an arrest affidavit filed on Monday by an FBI agent said.
Lawyers for the men were not immediately available for comment.
The FBI received information that there would be a meeting at Doyle's residence in late September "to discuss acting out in furtherance of their extremist beliefs by shooting or bombing the occupants of black churches and Jewish synagogues," the affidavit reads.
They also plotted violence against "persons of the Jewish faith, and doing harm to a gun store owner in Oklahoma," it said.
About a month later, the two met an FBI undercover agent and placed an order for an automatic weapon, explosives and a pistol with a silencer. On Sunday, they tried to complete the sale and were arrested, the affidavit said.
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