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Diverging portraits emerged Friday of the far-right supporter from Napa whom authorities arrested this week on weapons charges and said might have been plotting to kill California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In court Friday, a Napa County prosecutor said auto repair shop owner Ian Rogers built five large, deadly galvanized steel pipe bombs, possessed machine guns and extensive body armor, used encrypted communications to chat with like-minded extremists and is “part of the [right-wing] group that does call itself the Three Percenters.”
According to an FBI affidavit, Rogers, 43, made multiple threats in text messages to attack Democratic targets and ensure that Trump stayed in office. In the texts, Rogers stated, “Let’s see what happens then we act” and later added, “I’m thinking sac office first target” and “Then maybe bird and face offices.”
FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor, in an affidavit attached to the charges, said the texts were indications of his targets. “I believe that when Rogers said, ‘sac office first target,’ he meant that their first target should be the offices of California Governor Gavin Newsom in Sacramento. I further believe that when Rogers said that the ‘bird and face’ offices would be next, he meant the offices of Twitter (‘bird’) and Facebook (‘face’), because both social media platforms had locked Trump’s accounts to prevent him from sending messages on those platforms.”
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