24-year-old Buford Rogers, of Montevideo Minnesota, was arrested on Friday, and charged with one count of possession of contained Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and firearms, the FBI said on Monday. He is charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, the Guardian reported.
"The FBI believed there was a terror attack in its planning stages, and we believe there would have been a localized terror attack, and that's why law enforcement moved quickly to execute the search warrant on Friday to arrest Mr. Rogers," FBI spokesman Kyle Loven said.
"This is a very active investigation," he added.
"Co-operation between the FBI and its federal, state and local partners enabled law enforcement to prevent a potential tragedy in Mondevideo," the special agent in charge of the FBI office in Minneapolis Christopher Warrener also said.
FBI agents from the domestic terrorism searched Rogers' property at the mobile home park in Montovideo. The affidavit said that the suspect was there at the time of the search, and a Romanian AKM was recovered from his residence.
Rogers, who has a past conviction for felony burglary, admitted to firing the weapon two separate times at a gun range in Granite Falls, the affidavit read, even though he is not allowed to have a firearm.
Rogers is expected to make an appearance in federal court this week.
