Savage, Minn. is located in the state of Minnesota The man was arrested this week after a retired police officer reported that he was building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police.
The warning signs were strikingly similar to the circumstances that preceded the shooting at Colorado's Club Q last month and resulted in a far different outcome.
Smith was charged with federal weapons counts this week after firing an AK-47-style rifle in his home. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the 20-year-old man was arrested by the FBI after he purchased three hand grenades and four autos from an FBI confidential source. A firearm can be turned into an automatic weapon with an auto sear.
Smith told the person that the man who killed five people at the nightclub was a hero, called Black people "agents of satan," and was ready to engage the police with armor and full autos.
Smith is due in court Tuesday. He is being represented by the Office of the Federal Defenders. Email and phone messages were not immediately returned.
George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley said that the FBI investigation and arrest of Anderson Lee Aldrich provided a stark contrast to the warning signs that were ignored.
He said that the only way to protect the public was to move quickly. There was a missing part in the earlier case. It's a cautionary tale that early signals cannot be missed.
The grandparents of the suspects had previously been injured in run-ins with them but appeared to allow their alarming behavior.
Authorities say that in Smith's case, his grandmother drove him to the shooting range where he was seen practicing shooting drills, firing off hundreds of rounds in a few minutes. Aldrich's grandparents gave him $30,000 to buy a 3-D printer that he used to make gun parts, according to relatives.
In Aldrich's home there was a cache of more than 100 pounds of explosives, firearms, and bullets. The case didn't work out after the standoff. Aldrich killed five people less than two years ago.
Smith was 17 when he shot an AK-47-style rifle in the house where he lived with his grandparents. His grandmother told police that she hid two pistols from Smith in her closet after she injured her hand. Police were told by the grandparents that they were worried about their safety if Smith was released.
The grandmother told The Associated Press on Friday that she didn't want to speak because she was exhausted, but she did say that her hand was injured when she cut it on a doorknob.
She told police that Smith acted like a demon that night, and she described him as big and scary. Smith's mother bought the gun in her name and gave it to him. The documents show that his grandfather gave him a shotgun to shoot.
Police found a go-bag of water and canned goods, as well as 15 fully loaded magazines, when they searched his house after he was arrested. According to the FBI affidavit, Smith's electronic devices revealed internet searches about gay people being killed. There were files on an external hard drive.
Smith wasn't allowed to possess or use firearms until he was 19 years old. He was able to fire a fully automatic weapon less than two years after he was first arrested.
Minnesota does not have a red flag law that allows judges to take weapons away from people who are deemed to be a threat to themselves. Anyone under the age of 18 is not allowed to purchase a firearm or bullets. When in the presence or supervision of a guardian, it is possible for a minor to possess firearms.
Dave Pinto, a Democrat who also works as a prosecutor, said there is a lot more we could be doing to keep guns out of the hands of people who have shown themselves to be dangerous
Democrats plan to push for a red flag law again next year.
Smith came to the attention of the FBI this fall, after he frequented a firearm range and gun club wearing tactical gear, body armor, and a "Punisher" mask, which the FBI said has been used by right-wing extremists to refer to "the last thing a victim sees
The retired police officer who worked at the gun range saw Smith shoot from behind a barricade and called the FBI.
Smith was not allowed to buy weapons at the gun shop after his arrest. The operations manager of the gun shop and shooting range banned others from buying guns for Smith. Smith had been to the store in the past year.
If the store knew about Smith's interest in neo-Nazism they would have banned him from the property. We don't tolerate any kind of hate.
Smith wanted to add hand grenades to his tactical vest according to the FBI affidavit. It was part of a personal arsenal that included a note cursing police officers.
He told the person that they could find it once they got him. They scoop their boys up.
That's right.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has been changed.
That's right.
There are people reporting from South Dakota. Amy Forliti is a writer for The Associated Press.
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