FBI thwarts Oklahoma City bomb plot

The FBI arrested a man Monday for allegedly trying to detonate a vehicle bomb next to a bank in downtown Oklahoma City. FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Raul Bujanda said Jerry Drake Varnell researched how to build a bomb online. An undercover agent intercepted Varnell and made sure the “bomb” he built was constructed with harmless items. Bujanda said Varnell initially wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., because he was upset with the government. He decided instead to blow up the bank in a fashion similar to the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. NewsOK reported Varnell had a history of mental illness and had been treated for schizoaffective disorder.