TREMONTON, Utah (AP) — Authorities arrested a 47-year-old
Utah man Thursday that they say had been plotting to kill police
officers and blow up a police station with the hope the attacks would
cause an uprising against the government.
FBI agents and police in
Tremonton arrested John Huggins on Thursday on a charge of possessing
an unregistered destructive device, U.S. Attorney’s Office of Utah
spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said in a statement Friday evening.
Huggins
made an initial appearance in federal court late Friday and will remain
in custody until a detention hearing Tuesday afternoon, Rydalch said.
It was not immediately clear where Huggins was being held.
If convicted on the unregistered-device charge, Huggins could face 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Huggins
built an improvised explosive device and possessed explosive materials
and instructions for making bombs, FBI Special Agent Steven Cadiz said
in court documents.
In February, a "concerned citizen" contacted
Tremonton police to report Huggins threatened to blow up a Bible study
group and had buried bombs around the city of Ogden, Cadiz said.
Police
later determined that information was incorrect, but Huggins had
threatened to blow up the Tremonton Police Department and wanted to
assassinate two officers before the bombing, according to court records.
He also planned to blow up bridges and other infrastructure to prevent
emergency responders from being able to help, the court records state.
Huggins stated he believed the attacks would cause the community to rise up against the government,
investigators said.
It’s unclear in the court documents where and when Huggins made the threats.
Local
investigators were helped by the FBI and a confidential informant, who
met with Huggins on multiple occasions, Cadiz said. At one point, the
informant bought a USB thumb drive from Huggins that contained
instructions on how to manufacture drugs, bombs, booby traps and other
information.
The informant told investigators that Huggins had videos of himself blowing up a vehicle.
All
of the information was kept on a computer in a trailer, where Huggins
also later manufactured shrapnel and explosive devices, the informant
told investigators.
An undercover FBI agent later met with Huggins
and discussed bomb making, Cadiz said in court records. Huggins later
offered to make a bomb for the agent, according to court records.
On
Monday and Tuesday of this week, the confidential informant told
Tremonton police that Huggins had been making explosive devices and
shrapnel to put inside them.
Huggins met with the undercover agent
and the confidential informant at a Tremonton restaurant on Thursday,
Cadiz said. After more discussion of bomb-making, Huggins was arrested,
Cadiz said.
Investigators searching Huggins’ trailer later found a
homemade explosive device similar to a grenade and other explosive
material, Cadiz said.
Rydalch said the investigation was ongoing and Huggins could face additional charges when the case is
presented to a grand jury.