Man talked of attacking synagogue, officials say

Suspect reportedly had bomb-making items.

Authorities have arrested a Las Vegas man who discussed attacking a local synagogue and charged him in connection with bomb-making materials found in his home, officials said.

The man, Conor Climo, was charged on Thursday with one count of possession of an unregistered firearm, namely, the component parts of a destructive device, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Climo, 23, had communicated with people who identify with a white supremacist extremist organization and had encrypted online conversations in which he regularly used derogatory racial, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs.

He discussed attacking a Las Vegas synagogue, making Molotov cocktails and improvising explosive devices, officials said. Climo also discussed conducting surveillance on a bar he believed served the LGBTQ community in downtown Las Vegas.

During the execution of a search warrant Thursday, authorities seized a notebook with handdrawn schematics for a potential Las Vegas-area attack. Also inside the notebook were drawings of timed explosive devices, the statement said.

Authorities said Climo tried unsuccessfully to recruit a person who was homeless to conduct surveillance on a local synagogue and other targets leading up to an attack.

Officials said Climo was a security guard but did not say where. His LinkedIn account showed he worked for Allied Universal, a company based in Santa Ana, California. Company representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Threats of violence motivated by hate and intended to intimidate or coerce our faith-based and LGBTQ communities have no place in this country,” said Nicholas A. Trutanich, the U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada.