Authorities: Napa man with explosives may have planned to target Newsom

SACRAMENTO — A suspected far-right extremist and radicalized supporter of former President Donald Trump facing federal explosives charges may have been targeting California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the San Francisco Bay Area headquarters of social media giants Twitter and Facebook, according to the FBI.

Federal prosecutors charged Ian Benjamin Rogers, 43, of Napa County, after investigators found five homemade pipe bombs in a search of his home and auto repair business on Jan. 15. They also confiscated additional bomb-making material along with 49 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

According to an FBI affidavit, Rogers made multiple threats in text messages to attack Democratic targets and ensure that former President Donald J. Trump stayed in office.

In the texts, Rogers stated, “Let’s see what happens then we act” and later added, “I’m thinking sac office first target” and “Then maybe bird and face offices.”

FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor, who is part of the agency’s domestic terrorism squad in San Francisco, said the texts were indications of his targets.

“I believe that when Rogers said, ‘sac office first target,’ he meant that their first target should be the offices of California Governor Gavin Newsom in Sacramento. I further believe that when Rogers said that the ‘bird and face’ offices would be next, he meant the offices of Twitter (‘bird’) and Facebook (‘face’), because both social media platforms had locked Trump’s accounts to prevent him from sending messages on those platforms,” according to the affidavit, which was released by the office of David L. Anderson, the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of California.

Rogers also stated in a text that he was “not going down without a fight,” according to the federal criminal complaint.

His arrest came less than two weeks after a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 led by farright extremists and Trump supporters holding the belief that the November election had been stolen from the former president through fraud, a falsehood promoted by Trump for months.

Authorities in Sacramento have increased security at the Capitol and key locations, including the governor’s home, for weeks due to the threat of attack following the contentious presidential election and violence in Washington. Thousands of National Guard troops were stationed in Sacramento, and access to the Capitol was limited by barricades.