KANSAS CITY, KS – MARCH 26: Downtown is virtually deserted on March 26, 2020 in Kansas City, Kansas. Across the country, most nonessential places of business have been shut down as health officials try to slow the spread of COVID-19. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) A Missouri man who was planning to use a car bomb at a local medical facility died in a confrontation with FBI agents during an attempt to apprehend him, authorities said.
ABC News reported that Timothy Wilson, 36, planned to bomb a hospital just outside of Kansas City. He was killed when he showed up allegedly to purchase an inert explosive supplied by authorities. Wilson was armed; ABC News reported that it was unclear if agents shot him or if he killed himself. He was taken to a local hospital after the confrontation and pronounced dead.
ABC News reported the FBI had been investigating him for 18 months.
The FBI’s Kansas City field office said in a statement, “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. Wilson had taken the necessary steps to acquire materials needed to build an explosive device. At all times during the investigation, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force kept close track of Wilson in order to protect public safety.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Center on Extremism, Wilson’s Telegram account showed that he was involved with the neo-Nazi organizations National Socialist Movement and Vorherrschaft Division. He also had a post that read, “If you don’t think this whole [coronavirus] thing was engineered by Jews as a power grab here is more proof of their plans. Jews have been playing the long game we are the only ones standing in their way.”
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “The world may be social distancing, but hate persists.”
The world may be social distancing, but hate persists.
White supremacists who planned to bomb a hospital also spread antisemitic conspiracies: “If you don’t think this whole thing was engineered by Jews as a power grab here is more proof of their plans.” https://t.co/mhC5IaYnIw
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) March 26, 2020
The American Jewish Committee similarly tweeted, “A 36-year-old white supremacist with a history of threatening Jews attempted to bomb a Kansas City-area medical center on Tuesday. We are grateful to the @FBI for preventing this tragedy.”
A 36-year-old white supremacist with a history of threatening Jews attempted to bomb a Kansas City-area medical center on Tuesday.
We are grateful to the @FBI for preventing this tragedy.https://t.co/mQTrzPWQUN
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) March 26, 2020
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