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Trump supporter found with "white privilege" card and pipe bombs charged

28 January 2021
Dan Ackermann

The FBI believes California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and the Bay Area headquarters of Twitter and Facebook were targets of a man facing federal explosives charges, according to a criminal complaint.

Driving the news: Prosecutors charged Ian Benjamin Rogers after finding weapons including five pipe bombs, 49 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition following a Jan. 15 search of his Napa County home and auto repair business. His alleged goal was to ensure former President Trump remained in office.

Officers found a "White Privilege Card" during the search. Photo: FBI/Justice Department
  • The suspected far-right extremist told the FBI he built the bombs "for entertainment purposes only," according to the complaint, filed Tuesday.
  • But agents found text messages sent from the 43-year-old's phone that appeared to target Democrats, Twitter and Facebook after Trump was banned from the social media sites following the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol by some of his supporters.

Zoom in: "We can attack Twitter or the democrats you pick," said one message. "We can attack Twitter and democrats easy right now burn they’re s--- down."

  • "I'm thinking sac office first target ... Then maybe bird and face offices," said another.
  • FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor stated in the complaint that she believes "sac" refers to Newsom's Sacramento office.
  • Another message stated, "I hope 45 goes to war if he doesn't I will," which Minor stated she believed was in reference to ensuring that Trump "remained in power" after his election loss.

For the record: Rogers is facing federal charges of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device.

  • Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley told the Los Angeles Times Wednesday that he also faces 28 felony charges in state court "for possession of the explosives and weapons, including possession of an illegal silencer and multiple unregistered assault weapons."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.