Mad bomber ID confirmed
‘5G’ paranoia eyed
A Tennessee IT expert was formally named Sunday as the man behind the Christmas bombing in Nashville, while reports said his possible fears of 5G cellular tech and government surveillance were possible motives.
“Anthony Warner is the bomber,” US Attorney Don Cochran announced. “He was present when the bomb went off, and then he perished in the bombing.”
Warner (inset), 63,, was identified through forensic testing that matched human remains found at the scene to his DNA, as well as that of his relatives, officials said.
He had previously been named as a “person of interest,” pending results of that testing.
It’s believed that he acted alone, and that there is no lingering threat to the public authorities said.
While investigators publicly identified Warner as the man behind the blast, they declined to discuss his possible motive, citing the ongoing investigation.
One source familiar with the probe, however, told local NBC affiliate WSMV late Saturday that investigators are weighing whether Warner harbored a paranoia of burgeoning 5G cellular technology and believed it was being used to spy on the American public.
The blast injured three people and caused significant structural damage, including to an AT&T building, crippling cell service across Tennessee and much of the South into Sunday.
While Music City Mayor John Cooper cautioned that the investigation is ongoing, he told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that, based on the results, it’s reasonable to conclude that the AT&T building was targeted.
“To all of us locally, it feels like there has to be some connection with the AT&T facility and the site of the bombing,” Cooper said. “It’s got to have something to do with the infrastructure.”
Meanwhile, a business owner whose tattoo parlor was among the buildings damaged in the blast said he believes that he had seen the same RV “staking out” the area for several weeks.
“I can’t say if it was that one, but it was very similar,” Peter Gibson told local Fox affiliate WZTV.
“Whoever it was, they’d been staking out and they’d been doing their laps and their routine, practicing for a couple of weeks, it seems.”
Investigators said at the Sundayafternoon briefing that Warner’s activities in the weeks preceding the blast are the subject of intense scrutiny, as are any online postings he may have left behind.