A man has been charged after allegedly trying to blow up a Tennessee power substation as part of a white supremacist plot to upend American society, another potential instance of extremism targeting critical infrastructure.
Skyler Philippi, 24, spent months plotting an attack on the Nashville area, where he hoped to further his “accelerationist” goals of bringing about an all-white culture, according to charging documents. While communicating with confidential sources and undercover FBI agents, Philippi said that he wanted to “attack high economic, high tax, political zones” and that it was “time to do something big.”
Philippi, of Columbia, Tennessee, was arrested Saturday and charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility. He was in FBI custody in Nashville on Tuesday, and his attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FBI was alerted to Philippi earlier this year after he allegedly threatened a mass shooting, according to court documents. In July, Philippi told an undercover law enforcement source that he wanted to attack large power substations to “shock the system” and cause other substations to malfunction.
According to an FBI investigation, Philippi researched previous plots and attacks on power substations and planned to fly an explosives-laden drone into the substation. In 2022, there were numerous costly attacks on power grids across the country, including at two substations in North Carolina, where more than 45,000 people were without power for four days. Later that year, two men attacked four substations, leaving more than 15,000 people without power and causing $3 million in damage. Authorities at the time said the critical infrastructure was vulnerable to such attacks because it’s accessible and fragile.
In September, Philippi drove with undercover FBI agents to a power substation and ordered explosives from them - inert materials that he thought were active. He later purchased black powder to be used in pipe bombs for in the attack. He gave them instructions about how to avoid detection, such as leaving their phones elsewhere, wearing shoes that were too big and burning their clothes after the operation.
Those preparations led to Saturday’s intended attack.
On Saturday, the FBI news release said, Philippi and the agents participated in a ritual that included reciting a prayer and discussing Odin, the Norse god of war and the dead. According to court documents, some white supremacists adhere to Nordic “traditions involving the need to die in battle” to reach special status in the afterlife.
When the agents asked whether Philippi wanted to abort the mission, court documents say, he told them that he was “fully committed” and that “this is where the New Age begins.”
Philippi and the undercover agents drove to the substation, and the agents moved to their positions as lookouts. While he was powering up the drone and preparing to attack, authorities arrested him. If convicted, Philippi faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the case is a warning to people who may try a similar attack.
“Skyler Philippi believed he was moments away from launching an attack on a Nashville energy facility to further his violent white supremacist ideology - but the FBI had already compromised his plot,” Garland said in a news release. “This case serves as yet another warning to those seeking to sow violence and chaos in the name of hatred by attacking our country’s critical infrastructure: the Justice Department will find you, we will disrupt your plot, and we will hold you accountable.”
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell (D), whose jurisdiction includes surrounding Davidson County, thanked law enforcement for stopping “an admitted white supremacist seeking to bolster his violent, extremist ideology and endanger our community.”
“His goal was to sow seeds of hate in our community, and he did not succeed,” O’Connell said in an email. “We will always stand for democracy, peace, and safety in Nashville.”