Texas Man Charged With Planning To Blow Up Ashburn Data Center

ASHBURN, VA — A Texas man has been charged with plotting to blow up a data center in Ashburn in an attempt to "kill off about 70 percent" of the internet, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Seth Aaron Pendley, 28, of Wichita Falls, Texas, was arrested on Thursday after allegedly attempting to obtain an explosive device from an undercover FBI agent in Fort Worth. He was charged with a malicious attempt to destroy a building with an explosive,

Pendley allegedly wanted to blow up an Amazon Web Services' data center on Smith Switch Road in Ashburn. He made his initial appearance in federal court Friday morning. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

According to the federal criminal complaint, the investigation began after a citizen contacted the FBI on Jan. 8 about statements posted on MyMilitia.com, a forum dedicated to organizing far-right militia groups.

A user who went by the screenname “Dionysus” said he was planning to “conduct a little experiment” that he said would “draw a lot of heat” and could be “dangerous.” When another user asked what outcome Dionysus desired, he responded, “death,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas.

“Even if I only have a handful of fellow patriots standing beside me, I will happily die a young man knowing that I didn’t allow the evils in this world to continue unjustly treating my fellow Americans so disrespectfully,” Pendley allegedly wrote on MyMilitia.com.

Pendley’s posts came at a time when Amazon was under scrutiny from supporters of former President Donald Trump for its plans to cut ties with Parler, a social network where far-right activists who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol had congregated.

A confidential source provided the FBI with the MyMilitia.com user’s email address, which was registered to Pendley.

The FBI then searched Pendley’s Facebook account, which showed he had boasted about being at the U.S. Capitol for the insurrection on Jan. 6, according to the federal complaint.

In private messages, he allegedly told friends that although he did not enter the Capitol building, he did reach the “platform,” where he swiped a piece of glass from a broken window and interacted with police. He said he brought a sawed-off AR rifle to D.C., but left the weapon in his car during his movement to the Capitol, the complaint said.

In late January, Pendley allegedly began using Signal, an encrypted messaging app, to communicate with another confidential source, according to the complaint. The source told the FBI that Pendley said he planned to use C-4 plastic explosives to attack a prominent tech company's data centers in an attempt to “kill off about 70% of the internet.”

On March 31, the confidential source introduced Pendley to a person who he claimed was his explosives supplier. The man was actually an undercover FBI agent.

“We are indebted to the concerned citizen who came forward to report the defendant’s alarming online rhetoric,” Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah said in a statement Friday. “In flagging his posts to the FBI, this individual may have saved the lives of a number of tech workers.”

In recorded conversations, Pendley allegedly told the undercover FBI agent that he planned to attack web servers that he believed provided services to the FBI, CIA and other federal agencies. He said he hoped to bring down “the oligarchy” currently in power in the United States.

Last Monday, Pendley allegedly sent an associate hand-drawn maps of the Amazon facility he planned to target in Ashburn, according to the complaint.

“We would like to thank the FBI for their work in this investigation,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement provided to Wired. “We take the safety and security of our staff and customer data incredibly seriously, and constantly review various vectors for any potential threats."

An estimated 70 percent of the world's internet traffic flows through Northern Virginia's 12 million square feet of data center space, the majority of it in Ashburn and other parts of eastern Loudoun County. According to Northern Virginia Technology Council, Northern Virginia is the world's largest data center market, employing nearly 15,000 people.

Last Thursday, Pendley again met with the undercover FBI agent to pick up what he believed to be explosive devices. However, the agent gave Pendley inert devices. After the agent showed Pendley how to arm and detonate the devices, the defendant loaded them into his car, according to the complaint.

Pendley was then arrested by FBI agents who monitored the delivery of the inert devices.

“We continually ask the public to report suspicious or threatening behavior to law enforcement, and in this instance, that vigilance may have prevented injuries and the destruction of property,” said Matthew J. DeSarno, the FBI’s Dallas special agent in charge.

The FBI’s Dallas Field Office, Wichita Falls Resident Agency and FBI’s North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force conducted the investigation, according to the U.S. attorney's office.