FBI: Heavily-armed Savage man with extremist sympathies arrested
SAVAGE, Minn. – A tip helped the FBI track down a Twin Cities man with some serious firepower who they say wanted to be a Nazi.
Investigators say River Smith, 20, had a machine gun, access to body armor and was preparing for a violent exchange with police. They also released photos of Smith at a gun range in Prior Lake.
He was charged in federal court Thursday for possessing a machine gun and explosive grenades which were not registered to him. He will stay in custody.
The affidavit says the FBI received a tip in September from person working at a gun club, who saw Smith fire about 300 rounds of ammunition in 20 minutes. The person who reported Smith was a police officer, and knew of Smith because of an incident in 2019, when as a 17-year-old, Smith fired three rounds from an AK-47-style rifle inside his home and injured his grandmother.
After the 2019 shooting, police recovered an AK-47-style rifle, two loaded handguns, a .22 caliber rifle, along with 15 fully loaded 7.62mm magazines, tactical equipment, and ammunition. A search of Smith's electronic devices revealed searches about Adolf Hitler, Nazis, videos of gay people being killed, and instructions on how to build a bomb, documents say.
In September, the FBI started using a paid confidential informant to reach Smith through a social media platform. During a text exchange, Smith revealed he was "preparing for a violent exchange with police." He added he had access to full auto lowers and suppressors, which are legal to buy in Minnesota, though the purchaser must be at least 21 years old.
The affidavit goes on to say that a second confidential informant spoke with Smith at the gun club. Smith said he wanted an auto sear for his AR-15 and asked if the informant could get him "one of those barrels for a Glock 17 too," indicating that he was trying to make one is handguns, as well as his assault rifle, into automatic weapons.
Smith also texted the second informant asking about hand grenades, and agreed to purchase three of them at $250 a piece, the affadavit says.
On Wednesday, FBI agents provided the informant with three inert grenades and three auto sears. Smith paid for them and was put under arrest. Documents say that Smith had a Glock handgun with a bullet in the chamber, two full magazines, and was wearing soft armor during the exchange.
Investigators say that throughout the course of his interactions with the informants, Smith praised the recent mass shooting at a LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs, and expressed interest in joining a neo-Nazi group. Smith told the first informant that he was anti-police because of his prior arrest, and would "open fire" on officers if they ever tried to take his guns.
