MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who said he idolized the shooter who killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and was building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police was arrested this week as he tried to buy grenades from an FBI informant, according to charges filed this week.
River William Smith, who also expressed interest in joining neo-Nazi paramilitary groups and fired an assault-style rifle in a 2019, leaving his grandmother with a hand injury, faces federal weapons charges, The U.S. Attorney General’s office announced in a news release. FBI agents arrested the 20-year-old man on Wednesday after he purchased three hand grenades and four auto sears from an FBI informant, the AG’s office said.