The FBI last week arrested a Tennessee man who was planning to use explosives and sniper rifles in an attack on migrants and federal law enforcement at the southern border, according to multiple reports.
Paul Faye Sr., of Montgomery County, Tennessee, was arrested on gun charges. He was charged with the possession of an unregistered silencer under the National Firearms Act, per a criminal complaint filed on Feb. 2, Business Insider reported.
Faye's arrest first was reported by Seamus Hughes, a senior researcher at the University of Nebraska Omaha's National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, via his website Courtwatch.
The FBI's court filing outlined a nearly year-long investigation into Faye involving multiple undercover agents, Courtwatch reported.
The bureau first became aware of Faye following the arrest of Bryan Perry, another Tennessee man who was indicted last spring in a plot to murder immigrants at the border.
A review of Perry's electronics revealed that Faye had communicated with him about traveling to the border to commit violence, according to the FBI.
An FBI undercover employee reached out to Faye through TikTok in March, according to the court filing.
Then in April, three undercover agents met with Faye to discuss ways they could work together, Business Insider reported.
Faye allegedly told the undercover that, "the patriots are going to rise up because we are being invaded. We are being invaded."
In December, Faye told undercover FBI employees that he was hoping to coordinate with militias from Kentucky, Georgia, and Tennessee, according to the court documents.
The FBI also said Faye had contacted a member of the North Carolina Patriot Party, which the bureau described as a militia, about traveling to the border around Jan. 20.
Faye told undercover agents that his job in the border militia was to act as a sniper and that his "talents was sending rounds down range."
"I'll be the first one on the scene, and the last one to leave," Fate allegedly said, Courtwatch reported. "The reason why I say that is, if something, just say that we were going down like that, before you even put yourself in danger, I would be on top that roof right there, zeroing out, taking out anybody. And then as y'all coming out, I'm going to be taking out."
An FBI undercover employee purchased an unregistered silencer for an AK-47 from Faye on Jan. 11 after a meeting at the suspect's trailer.
The accused also told FBI undercover employees that he possessed tannerite, which he said could be "easily converted into claymore mines," according to court documents.
Faye's "war room" was filled with guns, radios, and tactical vests, the court documents said.
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