Jan. 6 riot participant from Texas sentenced for plotting to blow up Amazon data center
A Wichita Falls resident was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Friday by a judge in the Texas Northern District for plotting to blow up an Amazon data center in Virginia.
Seth Aaron Pendley, 28, was arrested in Fort Worth by an undercover FBI agent on April 8 for attempting to obtain an explosive device. The agent gave Pendley a fake device and after Pendley loaded it in his car, the arrest was made, according to a news release from Prerak Shah, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
In June, Pendley pleaded guilty to to the charges. In recorded conversations, Pendley claimed to have been present during the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol and that he went prepared with a sawed off AR rifle, according to the statement.
Pendley’s main objective for blowing up the Amazon data server was to “anger the oligarchy” and “kill of 70% of the internet,” according to recorded conversations.
Officials who searched Pendley’s residence found an AR-15 with a sawed-off barrel, a pistol painted to look like a toy gun, masks, wigs, notes and flashcards related to the planned attack, according to the release. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, Wichita Falls Resident Agency and FBI’s North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force.
