Kennewick extremist accused of making a bomb to target police pleads guilty

A Kennewick man pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing a homemade bomb, which court documents said was intended to target law enforcement.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington will ask a federal judge for no more than three years and 1 month of prison time, according to a plea agreement with Daniel James Anderson.

Anderson’s arrest stems from a federal investigation into the “Verified Bois,” a Pacific Northwest group of about 30 people involved in anti-government and anti-authority activities.

An FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force Office began working with a confidential informant in spring 2021 to build the cases against Anderson and the leader of the Verified Bois, Connor Duane Goodman, of Auburn, Wash.

Both Goodman and Anderson adhere to the beliefs of the “Boogaloo Bois,” a loosely connected group of people who share anti-government sentiment and advocate violence, according to court documents.

Participants in Verified Bois were waiting for an over-aggressive law enforcement action, such as at a public protest, to target officers with violence, according to court documents.

The Verified Bois held training events, including in Ellensburg and Easton, Wash., to practice raids, firearms handling and survival skills.

But Anderson told the confidential informant that too many members of Verified Bois were not taking training seriously enough and they did not understand the group was “training to kill people right now,” according to court documents.

In July 2021, Anderson received Thundercracker fireworks that Goodman had obtained from a tribal reservation.

Anderson used the fireworks to make explosive devices small enough to carry in a backpack when he was on a motorcycle, according to court documents.

Anderson said he could use the devices against law enforcement and then speedily escape on a motorcycle, according to court documents.

Online Anderson called his homemade bombs “distraction devices,” before also posting that they “aren’t training tools. I wouldn’t be anywhere near this thing. It’s going to throw shrapnel like a MF.”

He showed the confidential informant one device, a sealed glass jar designed to explode and project glass fragments and shotgun pellets, and the informant was able to capture video of it, according to a court document.

In December 2021, Goodman sold the confidential informant 12 mortar-style fireworks, and Anderson showed him how to extract material from them to make improvised explosive devices, according to a court document.

Thirteen days later federal law enforcement agents searched Anderson’s apartment and found a single improvised explosive device, which Anderson said he created using fireworks provided by Goodman, according to a court document.

Anderson told federal agents that he did not intend to use the device against law enforcement.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 13 in federal court in Richland.

Goodman pleaded guilty earlier this month to conspiracy to make or possess an unregistered destructive device.

In Goodman’s plea agreement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington agreed to ask Judge Mary Dimke, as it did with Anderson, to sentence him to no more than three years and one month in prison.

Goodman is to be sentenced June 22.

This story was originally published March 24, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kennewick extremist accused of making a bomb to target police pleads guilty."