Man Accused Of Plotting To Blow Up 48 Oklahoma Churches Arrested
Miami, OK – A man accused of planning to blow up 48 churches in Oklahoma was arrested in a motel about 90 miles northeast of Tulsa. Gregory Arthur Weiler II, 23, is an Illinois native. Staff at the lodging facility alerted local law enforcement officials that something very wrong may be going on in a guest’s room.
A room service employee noticed some suspicious items in the motel room, CNN reports. The Legacy Inn and Suites worker reportedly saw a pole of brown glass bottles with cloth wicks duct taped together in a trash bin. A 5-gallon gasoline can with a funnel attachment was also inside the trash bin.
As background checks were being run on all the guests at the Oklahoma motel, a maintenance worker accidentally walked into the suspect’s room and found the man with similar items and a receipt from Walmart for the purchase of all the suspicious materials, according to affidavit excerpts republished by The Blaze.
Police officers found papers which reportedly outlined Weiller’s plans to set off the explosives inside 48 area churches. The list of houses of worship were allegedly found with documents which offered instructions on how to make a Molotov cocktail and a map.
Ottawa County District Attorney, Ben Loring, noted that one of the entries found inside the alleged church bomber’s journal indicated what may have been a plan to set off explosives in churches across America.
An excerpt from the journal reads:
“Self-promote for the next four years while beginning list of goals written out in Oklahoma having to do with destroying and removing church buildings from across the US, a tiny bit at a time, setting a foundation for the years to follow.”
Weiler was charged with threatening to use an explosive and violating of the Oklahoma Anti-Terrorism Act.
