Man arrested in plan to bomb Oklahoma bank

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY

A 23-year-old man was “out for blood” when he attempted to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van outside an Oklahoma bank in a plot similar to the deadly 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, authorities said Monday.

During a meeting with undercover FBI agents in June, Jerry Drake Varnell of Sayre, Ok., said he held “III% ideology” and wanted “to start the next revolution,” a reference to the “Three Percenters” patriot movement — begun in 2008, galvanized by President Barack Obama’s election — and that has rallied against gun control efforts and pledges resistance to the federal government over the infringement of constitutional rights.

Federal officials arrested Varnell early Saturday in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb in an alley adjacent to BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City.

Varnell is charged with attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce.

Varnell made an initial appearance before a federal judge Monday afternoon and remains in the custody of federal marshals.

A federal complaint filed on Sunday says a confidential informant told the FBI in December that Varnell wanted to blow up a building and “that Varnell was upset with the government and was seeking retaliation.”