FBI arrests man plotting to bomb an Oklahoma City bank

The FBI arrested a 23-year-old Sayre, Okla. man who was attempting to detonate a bomb outside a BancFirst building late Friday night. The arrest was the culmination of a months-long undercover operation in which an FBI agent posed as someone who could help build a bomb.

The suspect, Jerry Drake Varnell, initially wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D. C. with a device similar to the one used by Timothy McVeigh in the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.

“Officials say Varnell initially wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., with a device similar to one used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing,” according to the Associated Press.

The device which was constructed with the help of the undercover agent was a fake, and the public was never in danger from the plot.

“According to the complaint, Varnell took a series of actions to advance his plot. He identified BancFirst as the target, prepared a statement to be posted on social media after the explosion, helped assemble the device, helped load it into what he believed was a stolen van, drove the van by himself from El Reno to BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City, and dialed a number on a cellular telephone that he believed would trigger the explosion,” said a KOCO 5 News report.

“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’ imprisonment. He is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in Oklahoma City at 3 p.m. Monday," the TV station said.

“According to the complaint, over the course of a months-long undercover investigation by the FBI, Varnell made repeated statements about the extent of his hatred of the federal government,” said The Washington Post.

“In one conversation he said he believed in the ‘Three Percenter’ ideology — a form of anti-government activism that pledges resistance against the United States government on the belief it has infringed on the Constitution, according to court papers. Those who subscribe to the ideology incorrectly believe that only 3 percent of the colonial population participated in the American Revolution, and they see themselves as their heirs.”

Copyright 2017  The Gayly – August 14, 2017 @ 12:25 p.m. CDT.