Category: Tennessee

Police have identified Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, as the perpetrator of the Christmas morning explosion in Nashville. It is believed that Warner acted alone and that he died in the blast:

Metro Nashville Police Department Spokesman Don Aaron confirmed Warner’s identity to the Associated Press on Sunday. He did not provide any more details. However, Warner had experience with electronics and alarms, according to public records. . . .
It appears to be a “lone wolf” situation, but the motive remains under investigation. Authorities do not believe the city of Nashville is in danger.
Separately, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press that federal investigators have started examining Warner’s digital footprint and financial history.

The Internet has been buzzing with two slightly separate but related theories of Warner’s motive, based on the fact that the target of his attack seems to have been the AT&T facility in downtown Nashville. Either (a) Warner was “paranoid” about 5G technology or (b) Warner was concerned about AT&T’s (very real) involvement in federal surveillance.

Keep in mind that both of these theories are just speculation. We do not yet know if Warner left behind any kind of “manifesto” or some other indication of his motive. Warner’s father, who died in 2011, “once worked for BellSouth communications before it merged with AT&T,” according to investigators, so it is possible that Warner had some kind of personal grievance against the company. Much speculation, however, has focused on conspiracy theories about 5G technology:

Law enforcement and intelligence agencies warned in May of this year about escalating threats targeting 5G communications infrastructure, a possible motive now being considered by investigators looking into the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, according to government documents reviewed by Yahoo News. . . .
5G is the latest standard for broadband cellular networks, which is expected to dramatically increase data transfer speeds. . . .
A May 14 Joint Intelligence Bulletin produced by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center warns of social media posts calling on people to “target critical infrastructure including cell towers, locations associated with the electric power grid, and other sites associated with perceived impending government action against citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic” and referring to past attacks in Europe and the United States on cell towers.
The bulletin notes that there have been dozens of recent attacks on cell towers, particularly those associated with 5G service, in Western Europe. While there have been fewer such attacks in the United States — just six, according to the bulletin — there have been increasing online calls for such attacks, according to the document. . . .
“Online calls for targeting have focused particularly on those facilities believed to be equipped with 5G wireless technologies, probably in part because of the recent proliferation of conspiracy theories that falsely link the COVID-19 pandemic spread with 5G infrastructure development, including beliefs that 5G towers cause the spread of COVID-19 or weaken the immune system allowing transmission of COVID-19,” the document says.
The intelligence bulletin also says that some of the calls for attacks on critical infrastructure sites, like those connected to 5G, appear to come from white supremacists.

Oh, of course, they had to throw in the “white supremacist” angle, despite the complete lack of evidence connecting Warner to any such ideology, and despite the fact that 5G conspiracy theories are also rampant in minority communities and among left-wing anarchist types.

Beyond mere speculation and politically motivated finger-pointing, however, there is the reality — not a theory, but a fact — that AT&T is working with the National Security Agency.

AT&T Helped U.S. Spy on Internet on a Vast Scale

That’s a 2015 headline from the New York Times which, so far as I know, is not a right-wing “white supremacist” conspiracy theory site.

The NSA’s Hidden Spy Hubs in Eight U.S. Cities

That’s a 2018 headline from the Intercept, and although Nashville was not named as a site of one of these “NSA spy hubs,” there’s this:

The NSA considers AT&T to be one of its most trusted partners and has lauded the company’s “extreme willingness to help.” It is a collaboration that dates back decades.

So if you’re concerned about federal surveillance, you would certainly consider AT&T one of the bad guys. But it’s best to avoid any kind of potentially paranoia-inducing information if you’re concerned about your mental health. That is to say, if we are being targeted for warrantless surveillance by an all-powerful “Them” — Big Brother, the Deep State, rogue agents trampling on our constitutional rights — I don’t want to think too much about it, or it might drive me completely bonkers.

“How to Maintain Your Sanity” — trust me, I’m an expert.

This appears to be some kind of terrorist attack:

A bomb planted in a recreational vehicle parked in the deserted streets of downtown Nashville exploded early Christmas morning, injuring three people and creating chaotic communications outages that took down police emergency systems.
The explosion was preceded by a chilling warning that urged people to evacuate the area.
Three people were hospitalized in stable condition Friday evening, and human remains may have been found at the scene, authorities said.
“We have found tissue that we believe could be remains,” Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at a news conference Friday afternoon. The chief said it was unclear if the remains came from someone in the RV.
“The RV was detonated so if it was someone inside, we have no idea,” Drake said. “It was such a large explosion.”
Police were responding to a report of shots fired when they found the vehicle, with an eerie recording playing, Drake said. The voice on the recording commanded: “If you can hear this message, evacuate now.”
Police called in the bomb squad and rushed to clear nearby buildings.
“The officers immediately began knocking on doors and evacuating residents here, not knowing if the bomb was going to go off immediately, or if it was going to go off in the time that was stated,” Drake said. “The officers saved lives today, and their heroism should be noted.”
The blast occurred at 6:29 a.m. local time, before the bomb squad arrived.
The explosion was near an AT&T building, causing disruptions in phone service and 911 systems up to 180 miles away. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily stopped flights out of Nashville International Airport due to the communications problems.
AT&T said in a statement it was “putting the full force of our disaster recovery efforts into responding to this morning’s explosion in Nashville.”

That the bomb was placed next to an AT&T building suggests that this was the intended target. So who would want to take out this communication facility and why? And why Nashville, of all places?

Also, what about that recorded warning to evacuate the area? This is further evidence suggesting that the bomber sought to destroy the AT&T building, rather than seeking to maximize human casualties, as terrorist bombers normally would. Setting the bomb at 6:30 a.m. on Christmas morning, when the streets were empty, is also evidence pointing in the same direction. But that might be a red herring, an attempt to mislead investigators by creating misleading evidence. The bomb might be an elaborate cover-up to conceal another crime, as police suspected in the case of the Speedway Bomber.

The investigation will obviously begin with determining who owned that RV. Once that is known, the rest of the relevant facts will come tumbling out in a rush. Building an enormous bomb requires time and resources, as well as extensive specialized knowledge. Achieving a timed detonation, as appears to be the case here, is a difficult feat, requiring the bomb-maker to avoid a premature accidental detonation.

If the motive for this bombing is political, what sort of politics? They did not choose as their target a synagogue or a mosque, nor was the target a government building or the office of a political party. The choice of the AT&T building — what does that suggest? AT&T is a gigantic conglomerate that bought out Time-Warner a few years ago. But why would the bomber target the company’s Nashville office? This is a strange puzzle, and I’m sure when the case is solved — probably within the next 72 hours — the story behind it will be quite interesting.

UPDATE: A 63-year-old man is reportedly a “person of interest.”