Las Vegas security guard arrested, bomb-making materials found at home
Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. (George Rose/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS - The FBI may have just foiled an impending attack in Las Vegas. The U.S. Justice Department confirmed on Friday the arrest and arraignment of a Las Vegas man after authorities discovered bomb-making materials at his home following an FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force investigation.
Conor Climo, 23, was charged by a criminal complaint with one count of possession of an unregistered firearm, "namely, the component parts of a destructive device," said the Department of Justice. He was arrested Thursday morning and made his first court appearance on Friday.
According to the criminal complaint, Climo was communicating with individuals who identified with a white supremacist extremist organization using the National Socialist Movement to promote their ideology. Members believe in the superiority of the white race and have a common goal of challenging the established laws, social order, and government via terrorism and other violent acts, according to the Justice Department.
Government officials say the organization encourages attacks on the federal government, including critical infrastructure, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community.
The complaint alleges that during encrypted online conversations throughout 2019, Climo would regularly use derogatory racial, anti-Semitic, and homosexual slurs. He discussed attacking a Las Vegas synagogue and making Molotov Cocktails and improvised explosive devices, and he also discussed conducting surveillance on a bar he believed catered to the LGBTQ community located on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas, the Justice Department said.
The criminal complaint also describes that items seized by law enforcement on Aug. 8, including a notebook with several hand-drawn schematics for a potential Las Vegas-area attack.
Authorities say the notebook also contained drawings of timed explosive devices. They say Climo claimed to have tried to recruit a homeless individual for pre-attack surveillance against at least one Las Vegas synagogue and other targets.
Climo faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This story was reported from Los Angeles