The FBI is reportedly investigating whether paranoia about 5G cell phone service may be behind a Christmas day car bombing that left blocks of Nashville, Tennessee, in ruins.
The bombing happened early Friday, when an RV began blasting a warning over a loudspeaker, urging local residents to evacuate the area because of a bomb. According to video taken from nearby surveillance cameras, the recording played for 15 minutes and then the RV exploded, leaving a massive crater. Three people were injured in the blast.
Human remains were reportedly found at the explosion site late Saturday — remains authorities appear to believe belonged to the bomber.
As The Daily Wire reported Saturday, authorities have acknowledged that they have a person of interest in the bombing and, late in the day, raided a home “in a suburban area of Nashville, with one law enforcement official telling [the Associated Press] on the condition of anonymity that the home is connected to a person of interest in the investigation.”
The home appears to be connected to the RV that exploded on Christmas morning. A similar-looking RV appears in the home’s driveway in Google Maps images and neighbors reportedly told local media that the RV was parked near the suburban home within the last 14 days.
The FBI has yet to confirm that it, specifically, has a suspect in mind in the explosion, but Nashville’s NBC affiliate reported Sunday that the agency is looking into whether 5G paranoia played a role in the bomber’s decision to explode the RV outside of an AT&T communications hub, plunging much of the surrounding area into a communications blackout.
“Realtor Steve Fridrich contacted the FBI after reading Warner’s name, as for several years, a man [by the person of interest’s name] had worked for him for several years doing information technology work,” WSMV noted. “Fridrich confirms that agents asked him whether or not [the person of interest] had paranoia about 5G technology.”
A “source close to the investigation” did tell WSMV that the 5G angle is one of several the agency is pursuing.
“But a source close to the federal investigation said that among several different tips and angles, agents are investigating whether or not Warner had paranoia that 5G technology was being used to spy on Americans,” the outlet said. “A spokeswoman for the FBI said they could not comment because of the pending investigation.”
According to communications company Qualcomm, 5G “is the 5th generation mobile network” and the new standard for cellular communication — a successor to 4G networks that rolled out over the course of 2019 and 2020. Conspiracy theorists, though, have cited new 5G networks as evidence that global governments are spying on individuals through cellular networks. CNN notes that some conspiracy theorists believe 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic are somehow related.
In the U.K., the conspiracy theories have become so pervasive, the Guardian reports, that far-left politicians have embraced the idea of slowing the 5G rollout.
Regardless of possible motive, though, authorities seem to have zeroed in on a single suspect, and a bizarre picture is emerging of the man who may have carried out Friday’s bombing. The Daily Mail reports Sunday that the “person of interest” transferred two homes to a California woman a month ago.