Vladstudioraw/iStock(LAS VEGAS) — A Nevada man accused of plotting an attack on a Las Vegas synagogue was charged in federal court with possession of illegal firearms and destructive devices on Friday.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada Nicholas Trutanich said in a news release that “threats of violence motivated by hate and intended to intimidate or coerce our faith-based and LGBTQ communities have no place in this Country.”
Conor Climo, 23, allegedly conducted encrypted online conversations with individuals who identified with a white supremacist extremist organization throughout 2019. In those conversations, Climo is accused of using derogatory racial, anti-Semitic, and homosexual slurs.
Climo also discussed attacking a synagogue, making Molotov Cocktails and improvised explosive devices, and conducting surveillance on a bar he believed catered to the LGBTQ community.
According to a criminal complaint, law enforcement seized a notebook with hand-drawn schematics for an attack, and drawings of explosive devices in the August 8 execution of a search warrant.
Climo also claimed to have tried to recruit a homeless person for pre-attack surveillance of multiple targets.
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
“As this complaint illustrates,” Special Agent in Charge Aaron C. Rouse of the FBI Las Vegas Division said, “the FBI will always be proactive to combat threats that cross a line from free speech to potential violence.”
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