A 24-year-old Tennessee man has been arrested and charged with allegedly conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction as part of a neo-Nazi-inspired plot to destroy an energy facility near Nashville, the Ministry of Justice announced on Monday.

Skyler Philippi reportedly planned to attack Nashville’s power grid with a drone armed with explosives after conducting extensive research into how such an attack could be used to “shock the system,” as he told a confidential FBI source who learned of his plot, prosecutors. said.

The FBI began investigating Philippi in June after a confidential source who was in contact with him reported to the FBI his alleged desire to commit a mass shooting at a YMCA near Columbia, Tennessee, according to the complaint.

Philippi allegedly repeatedly espoused his adherence to white supremacist and accelerationist ideologies that promote the idea that a destabilizing terrorist attack against something like the country’s energy sectors could serve to incite unrest leading to civil war, according to prosecutors .

“I really want to hit Nashville, one hundred percent, I want to get Nashville,” Philippi allegedly said in a meeting recorded by the undercover agents, according to the complaint. “I also know Louisville very well, since I live there. I spent about five months exploring each location (power plant) and even came up with a game plan to get there as quickly as possible. I had whole maps made, printed on paper, to actually do this.”

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In September, Philippi and undercover FBI employees drove to an electrical substation he had previously researched, and while in transit, Philippi allegedly ordered from the informants what he believed to be the equivalent of C-4 explosives, according to the complaint.

During the reconnaissance mission, the undercover agents recorded Philippi saying, “Holy shit. This is going to go up like goddamn Fourth of July fireworks,” according to the complaint.

On Saturday, Philippi allegedly met with the undercover agents to test the drone and carry out the attack, according to the complaint. The complaint includes a photograph that prosecutors say shows Philippi conducting the drone test flight.

The agents provided Philippi with pipe bombs that were allegedly ordered by the defendant and contained an inert substance so they would not explode, according to the complaint. Another photo included in the complaint shows a masked person prosecutors say is Philippi, accompanied by two undercover FBI agents, displaying the pipe bombs and an explosive device.

Before going to the site of the operation, Philippe participated in a “Nordic ritual”, during which he allegedly said: “This is where the New Age begins” and that it was “time to do something something great” that will be remembered “in the annals of history,” according to the complaint.

Once at the operation site, as the undercover agents moved to their lookout positions, Philippi allegedly fed the drone with an explosive device to which he believed an active C-4 was attached, according to the complaint. He was then placed in police custody, according to the prosecution.

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“According to the indictment, Skyler Philippi believed he was about to launch an attack on a Nashville energy facility to promote his violent white supremacist ideology – but the FBI had already compromised his plot,” the prosecutor said. Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. “This case serves as yet another warning to those who seek to sow violence and chaos in the name of hatred by attacking our nation’s critical infrastructure: the Department of Justice will find you, we will foil your plot, and we will demand accounts.”

Philippi is accused of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, the DOJ said.

He made his first court appearance Monday and was temporarily detained, according to court records. A preliminary hearing and a detention hearing continued until November 13.

ABC News has reached out to Philippi’s attorney for comment.

Man arrested in alleged neo-Nazi-inspired plot to destroy Nashville energy plant: DOJ originally appeared on abcnews.go.com