Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for teaching someone to make bombs targeting authorities

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday sentenced a North Carolina man to 25 years in prison for teaching someone how to make bombs intended to kill federal law enforcement officers.

A jury had found Christopher Arthur, 40, guilty in 2023 of charges related to the bomb, as well as illegal possession of weapons, including improvised explosives found on his farm in Mount Olive, North Carolina.

Arthur, a veteran of the U.S. Army and North Carolina National Guard who served two tours of duty in Iraq, founded a company called Tackleberry Solutions, which created manuals and videos teaching so-called tactics of war. In addition to bomb-making instructions, Arthur's training manuals and videos included instructions on how to create “death funnels” intended to kill law enforcement using booby traps.

Arthur first came to the attention of the FBI in 2020 after some of his manuals were discovered in the possession of Joshua Blessed, a man who had attacked sheriff's deputies and police officers in upstate New York . Blessed, a truck driver, died after leading officers on a high-speed chase and shootout lasting nearly two hours.

Arthur was arrested in January 2022 after providing instructions on how to make bombs to a confidential human source, called “Buckshot” by federal prosecutors.

Buckshot initially contacted Arthur in May 2021, claiming that agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had confiscated some of his guns. He told Arthur he wanted help preparing for the agents' planned return to his home.

At trial, Arthur said his manuals and training sessions were not intended to be used to launch attacks against law enforcement or the government. He said he believed the country was heading toward violent chaos and wanted to prepare people to defend themselves.

In a brief statement Friday before his sentencing, Arthur, dressed in orange prison clothes, warned that the country would soon descend into violence. “Buy food supplies and prepare to defend yourself and your family,” he said.

Federal prosecutors charged Arthur with domestic terrorism enhancements related to bomb-making instructions, charges the judge upheld over defense objections.

Arthur's federal public defender, Ed Gray, told the court that his client was a deeply religious man who simply wanted to protect his family from what Arthur believed was a coming apocalypse.

“He's not some kind of terrorist like Timothy McVeigh,” Gray said, referring to the man who was executed for the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. “He's a veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq It's hard to come back from that, and his focus has changed There are unseen issues that should be addressed,” Gray added, saying Arthur was open to. therapy.

But before imposing Arthur's sentence, U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III said he took into account the defendant's service and his past as a former U.S. agent. order.

“It’s really sad, honestly,” the judge said, referring to Arthur’s military service and the families of those he was accused of targeting. “But it’s also serious. As anyone who has ever had a loved one in combat knows, they pray every night that they will come home. Law enforcement families say the same prayer every day when their spouse, or mom or dad, goes to work.