FBI: Fort Riley soldier shared bomb instructions on Facebook
FORT RILEY, Kan. (KSNT) – A Fort Riley soldier faces federal charges after sharing plans for making bombs over social media, according to Kansas U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
A federal court charged 24-year-old Jarrett Williams Smith Monday with one count of distributing information related to explosives and weapons of mass destruction. A private first class infantry soldier, Smith joined the Army on June 12, 2017.
According to an affidavit from the FBI, Smith posted on Facebook he was interested in traveling to Ukraine to fight with a paramilitary group called the Azov Battalion.
Smith also offered to teach other Facebook users to make cell phone explosive devices “in the style of the Afghans.” On Aug. 19, an undercover investigator said Smith told him he was looking for “radicals” like himself, and described killing members of Antifa and destroying nearby cell towers or a local news station.
Three days later Smith told an undercover investigator about how to make a vehicle bomb and described in detail how to build an explosive that could be triggered by a cell phone.
If convicted, Smith could face up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Read the full criminal complaint against Smith below: