He Was Busted at Train's Controls. Now, Terror Charges

FBI says it found weapons, ammo, white supremacist materials at Taylor Wilson's home
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 5, 2018 12:56 PM CST
FBI: White Supremacist Who Halted Train Accused of Terror
In this Dec. 29, 2017, photo, an Amtrak employee signals that all passengers are clear as the train departs a station outside Williams, Ariz.   (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca)

A white supremacist accused of stopping an Amtrak train in Nebraska has been charged with terrorism. Documents unsealed Wednesday in US District Court in Lincoln show 26-year-old Taylor Wilson of St. Charles, Mo., is charged with terrorism attacks and other violence against railroad carriers and mass transportation systems, the AP reports. The eastbound train with about 175 people aboard halted around 2am on Oct. 22 in Oxford, Neb., about 200 miles southwest of Omaha. Per an affidavit cited by the Lincoln Journal Star, FBI Special Agent Monte Czaplewski said the assistant conductor found Wilson sitting in the engineer's seat, "playing with the controls." That conductor and others reportedly subdued and held Wilson down until the authorities could arrive.

A deputy says Wilson had a loaded revolver (he had a permit for concealed carry in Missouri), plus more ammunition and a knife. Wilson, who was traveling from Sacramento, Calif., to St. Louis, was initially charged in Furnas County with felony criminal mischief and use of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. In an affidavit regarding the new charges, Czaplewski said there was probable cause to believe that electronic devices possessed by Wilson and firearms owned by him "have been used for or obtained in anticipation of engaging in or planning to engage in criminal offenses against the United States." Court documents show the FBI has evidence of Wilson's activities with white supremacist groups, with an informant telling the agency Wilson has previously expressed interest in "killing black people."

(More white supremacist stories.)

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