Timothy Wilson, a man who died in an FBI shootout in Missouri, was planning to bomb a hospital providing “critical medical care” during the current coronavirus health care crisis, according to a statement from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Wilson felt compelled to act when the Belton mayor issued a stay-at-home order to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, The New York Times reported.

The Informant’s Nick R. Martin has unearthed social media posts he says were made by Wilson on Telegram channels using the handle Werwolfe 84; according to Martin’s research, Wilson was “an admirer of the 1980s terrorist group The Order” and was linked to “two active neo-Nazi organizations,” the National Socialist Movement (NSM) and Vorherrschaft Division (VSD). Elon University computer science professor Megan Squire helped Martin with the research.

According to Martin, Wilson was active on Telegram on Tuesday, March 24, writing that he thought the government was using coronavirus as an “excuse to destroy our people,” adding, “Mark my words it’s coming I hope people are ready.” He also commented on COVID-19, according to Martin, writing, “If you don’t think this whole thing was engineered by Jews as a power grab here is more proof of their plans. Jews have been playing the long game we are the only ones standing in their way.”

In the March 25, 2020 statement, the FBI revealed that it had executed a probable cause arrest the day before for Timothy Wilson, 36, at the 100th block of Wilbur Parish Circle in Belton, Missouri. That action came “at the conclusion of a long-running domestic terrorism investigation,” the FBI wrote.

FBI agents went to arrest Wilson, who was armed, when Wilson “was injured and transported to an area hospital where he was later pronounced deceased,” according to the statement from the FBI. The New York Times reported that Wilson was killed in a shootout with FBI agents. It’s not clear whether he died at his own hand or was shot by the agents.

According to the FBI, Wilson was the “subject of a months-long domestic terrorism investigation, which revealed him to be a potentially violent extremist, motivated by racial, religious, and anti-government animus. Wilson was actively planning to commit an act of domestic terrorism – a bombing – and over the course of several months considered several targets.”

According to the FBI, “with the current health crisis, Wilson decided to accelerate his plan to use a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in an attempt to cause severe harm and mass casualties.”

He considered various targets and “ultimately settled on an area hospital in an attempt to harm many people, targeting a facility that is providing critical medical care in today’s environment,” said the FBI. “Wilson had taken the necessary steps to acquire materials needed to build an explosive device. At all times during the investigation, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force kept close track of Wilson in order to protect public safety.”

In fact, says the FBI, the FBI was prepared to arrest Wilson when he arrived to pick up what he thought was an explosive device but “there was no actual bomb.”

On March 23, 2020, the Belton police tried to quash public rumors relating to COVID-19, showing how the outbreak has that community on edge. “It has come to our attention that an individual has made a post on social media stating that her step-father was contacted by a Belton Police Officer in reference to the stay at home order,” they wrote. “This post claims that people will be stopped to check compliance with the order and that, if they are not in possession of documentation justifying them being in public, they will be ticketed. The stay at home order issued by the City of Belton and Cass County is not a curfew order and is certainly not martial law. Citizens will not be stopped without cause and made to justify their presence in public. There is no letter that citizens need to obtain from their employer to show the police. There is no documentation to obtain from the police department either. Our call center has been inundated with calls reference this erroneous post.”