According to court filings, a 55-year-old man from Long Island, New York, was accused by federal authorities on Tuesday for allegedly using artificial intelligence to create seven homemade explosives, which he described as “easier than buying gun powder.”
According to authorities, the guy, Michael Gann, brought the explosives from Long Island to New York City and kept five of them together with four shotgun rounds on the rooftop of an apartment building in the SoHo district. They said he planned to use one or more of the improvised explosive devices in conjunction with the shotgun shells.
According to the indictment, Gann sent a message to President Donald Trump’s official X account on March 27.
“Dear @POTUS, I’m thinking just now here in NYC that it’s too bad that the wall wasn’t built before the National Guard would have to come here for the Protests and Riotation,” he was said to have written. “Or would you just drop a bomb on this place while and because they seem to be coming and coming?”
Authorities claim that five weeks after Gann wrote on Instagram, “Who wants me to go out to play like no tomorrow?” he was taken into custody.
Gann has yet entered a plea, and his lawyer remained silent.
Placing an online order
According to court records, Gann admitted to law enforcement that he made the homemade bombs using two household chemicals he had acquired online. In addition, he bought more than 50 lengths of fuses and more than 200 cardboard tubes. About 30 grams of explosive powder, or 600 times the permitted amount for consumer fireworks, were present in one of his devices.
According to officials, he seemed to have acted alone rather than in concert with others.
According to Christopher Raia, the director of the FBI’s New York field office, “Gann allegedly produced multiple improvised explosive devices intended for use in Manhattan.” “The effective collaboration between New York’s law enforcement agencies allowed Gann to be apprehended quickly before he could cause harm to innocent civilians.”
In the Long Island town of Inwood, New York, one of the witnesses, a veteran of the United States military, told the FBI that Gann said, “What type of veteran are you? You fail to take action despite observing an issue in the area.
When he was arrested, a criminal complaint was filed stating that “Gann then pointed to a Jewish school.”
According to the criminal complaint, a second witness consented to telephone Gann while the FBI listened in. In one call, Gann told the witness that he had lit one of the devices on the FDR Drive close to the East River; it claims that the device exploded, frightening Gann.
According to the witness, Gann then stated that he was thinking of either giving the remaining five devices to the New York City Fire Department or tossing them into the river.
The lawsuit claims that on June 5, the day of the alleged call, Gann was spotted by law enforcement officers strolling along the street with a shoulder bag. It states that after the agents introduced themselves, Gann informed them that he was his route to the fire department to deliver the devices.
According to the complaint, after being informed of his rights, Gann told police that he wanted to create fireworks and utilized artificial intelligence to figure out what chemicals to buy and mix.
According to the report, Gann originally built four devices and tossed three of them from the Williamsburg Bridge’s Manhattan side. One of the devices fell on the rail tracks and was found nearby, while the other two fell into the sea.
Interim U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated that Gann “built explosive devices, stored them on a rooftop in SoHo, and threw one onto the subway tracks — putting countless lives at risk.”
