A Columbia man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction to destroy an energy facility in Nashville last year. Twenty-four-year-old Skyler Robert Philippi could now face life in prison and a potential $250,000 fine. He is set to be sentenced in January.
As previously reported, Philippi was arrested by federal agents after connecting with undercover informants and plotting to use a drone to bomb an electrical substation as part of a white supremacist plot. According to court documents, Philippi built the drone “to avoid law enforcement detection” and test-flew it near Franklin. He was arrested just before attempting to launch the attack with the use of inert pipe bombs provided by the informants.
AG says white supremacist test-flew drone outside of Franklin hours before foiled attack
Philippi is affiliated with two white supremacy groups — the Atomwaffen Division and the National Alliance — and reportedly wanted to attack “high tax cities or industrial areas to let the [ethnic slur] lose money.”
Nashville was the target of multiple white supremacist actions throughout 2024.
Philippi also expressed a “desire to commit a mass shooting at a YMCA facility located in or around Columbia.” He also allegedly planned to derail a train before settling on the substation-bombing plot.
“Motivated by a violent ideology, Philippi wanted ‘to do something big,’” says assistant attorney general for national security John A. Eisenberg in a release. “Instead, the FBI disrupted his plans, and Philippi now awaits sentencing.”
Robert E. McGuire, acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, adds, “Our office is fully committed to thwarting dangerous attacks motivated by hate.”
