A months-long Federal Bureau of Investigation undercover operation ended early Saturday morning after an Oklahoma man attempted to detonate a vehicle bomb in downtown Oklahoma City.

The FBI says the bomb posed zero public risk because it was inert: an undercover FBI employee, posing as an explosives expert, helped him build it.

Jerry Drake Varnell, 23, from Sayre, Oklahoma, is charged with attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce and if convicted, could face up to 20 years in federal prison with a mandatory minimum of five years in prison.

Varnell entered a not-guilty plea Monday and is set to appear for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 22

Law enforcement arrested Varnell after he attempted to call a burner phone, which he believed would detonate the inert bomb, shortly before 1 a.m. Saturday morning.

“There was never a concern that our community’s safety or security was at risk during this investigation,” said Kathryn Peterson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oklahoma. “I can assure the public, without hesitation, that we had Varnell’s actions monitored every step of the way.”

In the criminal complaint filed against Varnell, FBI agents detail a months-long plot through his conversations with an initial informant and an undercover FBI employee. The affidavit states Varnell subscribed to an anti-government philosophy and was inspired by the movie “Fight Club”.

“What happened in Oklahoma City was not an attack on America, it was retaliation,” Varnell said in a post sent to the informant to be posted after the foiled bombing. “Retaliation against the freedoms that have been taken away from the American people.”

According to the affidavit, in late December 2016, an informant approached authorities with screenshots of concerning conversations with Varnell. Varnell discussed a vendetta against government officials and plans to build a small militia.

“I’m out for blood,” Varnell told the informant in some of the screenshots. “When militias start getting formed, I’m going after government officials when I have a team.”

According to the affidavit, Varnell wanted to build a bomb similar to the one used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

Varnell changed his planned detonation location multiple times, starting with a plan to bomb the Eccles Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C., before looking at Facebook or Bank of America data centers, an Internal Revenue Service building in Texas and a BancFirst in Oklahoma City.

“Well I don’t wanna kill a bunch of people,” Varnell said, according to the affidavit, when asked by the informant why he decided to change locations.

Varnell later met with the undercover FBI employee who posed as a bomb expert. During two months of planning, the undercover employee told Varnell there would be “no hard feelings” if he didn’t go through with the plan and cautioned Varnell that there could still be some casualties.

According to the complaint, Varnell said the undercover employee did not understand how deeply he hated the government and that sometimes to make an omelet, “you got to crack a few eggs.”

At a restaurant where the informant introduced Varnell to the undercover employee, Varnell described his philosophy along the lines of a group called “The Three Percenters” which pledges resistance against the United States government, and, according to the FBI, incorrectly claims only 3 percent of the colonial population was part of the American Revolutionary military. 

Varnell also said at that meeting he was inspired by the movie “Fight Club” and had already begun experimenting with homemade bombs. According to the affidavit, the undercover FBI employee warned Varnell to stop handling explosive materials at home.

The undercover employee and Varnell scouted out the bombing location on July 19 before meeting on August 11 to assemble the bomb in a mini-storage unit in El Reno. The bomb was completely inert.

“At approximately 6:30 p.m., Varnell actively participated in building what he believed to be a 1,000-pound [Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device] constructed with ammonium nitrate/ fuel oil, detonating cord, cast boosters, dynamite and blasting caps,” the affidavit said.

On Saturday, Varnell and the undercover employee drove the vehicle to Oklahoma City where Varnell thought he would detonate the bomb.

The FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force and other law enforcement arrested Varnell at 12:54 a.m.

Lee writes for the Norman, Oklahoma, Transcript.