from Hacker News

Man arrested for trying to detonate what he thought was a car bomb in Oklahoma

by jbg_ on 8/16/17, 9:02 AM with 1 comments

• by jbg_ on 8/16/17, 9:04 AM

  The FBI seems to have gone further than usual (in my limited understanding of what is usual) here with "assisting" the man to incriminate himself. To me (not a lawyer) it sounds a little like entrapment.

    ... an undercover FBI agent posed as a person who could assist him.
    According to the complaint, Varnell took a series of actions to
    advance his plot. He identified BancFirst as the target, prepared a
    statement to be posted on social media after the explosion, helped
    assemble the device, helped load it into what he believed was a
    stolen van, drove the van by himself from El Reno to BancFirst in
    downtown Oklahoma City, and dialed a number on a cellular telephone
    that he believed would trigger the explosion.
    
    Varnell is charged with attempting to use explosives to destroy a
    building in interstate commerce.