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FBI: Minnesota man was making arsenal, revered mass shooters

River William Smith, 20, was arrested Wednesday after officials say he bought three grenades and four auto sears during a meeting with an FBI informant.

MINNEAPOLIS — A 20-year-old Savage man is accused of illegally possessing a machine gun and attempting to buy hand grenades, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

River William Smith was arrested Wednesday after officials say he bought three grenades and four auto sears — a device that turns firearms into an automatic weapon — during a meeting with an FBI informant. He was later charged with one count of possession of a machine gun and one count of attempt to receive and possess destructive devices. 

According to the charges filed this week, 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. Smith also expressed interest in joining neo-Nazi paramilitary groups and fired an assault-style rifle in 2019, leaving his grandmother with a hand injury. 

Court documents say Smith stated he is "pro-mass shooting," and sympathized with the Parkland school shooter. He also told the informant that the shooter who killed five people at an LGBTQ nightclub last month was a “hero,” called Black people “agents of satan,” and said he was ready to engage the police “with armor and full autos," an FBI agent said in an affidavit.

During the investigation, authorities found Smith had access to fully automatic rifles, handguns, suppressors, body armor and a Kevlar helmet, saying he was planning for a fight with police and that he was dedicated to dying in the fight.

Credit: Sherburne County Jail
This Dec 15, 2022 booking photo released by Sherburne County Jail in Elk River, Minn., shows River Smith. The Minnesota man who authorities say had idolized the man who killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and was building an arsenal to use against police was arrested this week as he allegedly tried to buy grenades from an informant. (Sherburne County Jail via AP)

Smith appeared in federal court Thursday and was ordered to remain in custody.

According to court documents, a concerned citizen reported "disturbing behavior" of Smith. Authorities say he showed up to a gun range wearing tactical gear, body armor and a "Punisher" mask, which the FBI said has been used by right-wing extremist groups to reference "the last thing a victim sees."

A retired police officer who worked at the gun range contacted the FBI's National Threat Operations Center on Sept. 27 after he saw Smith wearing body armor, shooting from behind a plywood barricade he had assembled and practicing rapid reloads of his handgun, according to the affidavit.

In November, agents saw Smith's grandmother drive him to the gun range and wait in the car while he shot. She had also purchased pistol ammunition for him, according to the federal affidavit.

It wasn't the first time Smith came to the attention of law enforcement.

In 2019, when he was 17, Smith was put on probation after he fired an AK-47-style assault rifle in a house he shared with his grandparents, according to court documents. His grandmother, who received a minor injury to her hand, told police officers at the time that she had taken two pistols from Smith and hidden them in her closet. The grandparents told police they were concerned for their safety if Smith was released from custody.

The grandmother added that Smith seemed “possessed” that night, according to legal documents, and she described him as "big and scary and strong.”

During follow-up searches, police found tactical equipment, 15 fully loaded magazines, full ammunition cans and a go-bag of water and canned goods that suggested to them he could have been preparing for a prolonged standoff. An affidavit also says police reviewing his electronic devices found searches about Adolf Hitler and videos of homosexuals being killed, as well as files about bomb-building on an external hard drive.

In a post-arrest interview, Smith told investigators he was not a “super terrorist,” according to the federal affidavit.

As part of the February 2020 probation agreement, Smith was barred from using or possessing any firearms until he turned 19. Within two years, he was stockpiling an arsenal of firearms, authorities said.

Smith told an FBI informant that he was “pro mass shooting in general,” and that he wanted to add the hand grenades to his tactical vest, the Attorney General's Office said. He said it was part of a personal arsenal that included a note cursing police officers in a pouch attached to his gear, authorities said.

“They can find that once they get me,” he told the informant in a recorded conversation, according to authorities. “When they're scooping their boys up.”

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