A man has been arrested in the US and charged with attempting to use a 'weapon of mass destruction' to destroy a substation in Nashville, Tennessee.

Skyler Philippi, 24, of Columbia, Tennessee, believed that “he was moments away from launching an attack on a Nashville energy facility to further his violent white supremacist ideology,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

According to FBI Director Christopher Ortiz: “the defendant planned to attack the power grid with a drone and explosives, leaving thousands of Americans and critical infrastructure like hospitals without power.”

Philippi allegedly researched previous attacks on electric substations and concluded that attacking with firearms would not be sufficient. He subsequently planned to use a drone with a C4 explosive attached and fly it into the substation, as part of a far-right and "racially motivated violent extremist ideology."

Local police apprehended him en route to the site, with support from undercover FBI operatives who had been in contact with the defendant. When he was taken into custody, Philippi was at the rear of the vehicle, with the drone powered up, and the explosive device was armed and located next to the drone.

Philippi was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted destruction of an energy facility. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This isn't the first time domestic terrorists have targeted the critical infrastructure in the US. In 2021 there were two high profile instances. For example, in January, a suicide attack directly in front of AT&T's central office facility disrupted wireless services, including that of the First Responder Network Authority.

Following this, in April, a right-wing terrorist was apprehended trying to purchase explosives to blow up an Amazon Web Services data center in Virginia.