Utah militia leader jailed in bomb plot

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah militia group leader with ties to Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has been arrested and charged in an attempt to blow up a rural, federally owned cabin in Arizona, federal authorities said Thursday.

An FBI agent said in charging documents that William Keebler, 57, was planning to retaliate against the federal government, which he felt was harassing people and imposing overreaching grazing restrictions on ranchers.

Keebler is a the leader of citizen militia group called the Patriots Defense Force in Stockton, Utah, about 40 miles west of Salt Lake City, according to the charging documents.

Authorities said Keebler planned to set off an explosive device outside a U.S. Bureau of Land Management cabin in the northern Arizona area of Mt. Trumbull.

Keebler traveled to the Arizona cabin Tuesday night with militia members and undercover FBI employees. An inactive explosive was placed against the door and Keebler was handed a remote detonation device and pushed it several times, according to the FBI.

The FBI arrested Keebler in Utah on Wednesday morning. He faces one count of attempting to damage federal property with an explosive. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison, according to U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Melodie Rydalch.

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