A Mason, Ohio man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a destructive device after an investigation into an IED found in a football group, leading to the discovery of bomb-making materials.
James River Phillips, 20, was arrested Thursday by the FBI's joint terrorism task force in the Cincinnati field office and was charged with possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of a destructive device.
The arrest came after the task force conducted a federal court-ordered search in Mason that morning.
“The FBI's joint terrorism task force allegedly possesses dangerous and destructive devices,” said Elena Iatarola, director of the FBI Cincinnati. “The FBI and our partners work together to ensure his actions stop before there is a public safety risk.”
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An Ohio man was charged with possessing an unregistered vandal device after the FBI and local police investigated. The photos show an IED, a detonator and a white powder that is considered explosive. (Federal Affidavit)
Police found an IED at a football building at 12:30 a.m. on September 22, 2024, according to an affidavit filed by a Phillips in Lebanon, Ohio.
Before discovering, the officer saw two men in their 20s leaving the parking lot of the complex, a silver SUV that was initially parked in the lot. Police described the driver as long curly hair.
The affidavit states that the officer stopped and told the two men that they had left the parking lot since the complex was closed.
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After the two men left, the officer continued to drive into the parking lot and found where the SUV was parked, court documents said.
“The wires of the IED ranged from a pile of white powder to the control switch,” the affidavit said. “When did the control switch find the IED go red. After encountering the device, LPD officials tried to find two men, but could not find it. The official contacted Butler County Bomb Squad (BCBS) to catch the IED.”
BCB found that the residue on the device contained nickel-hydrogen nitrate, while the white powder contained erythrocyte-promoting tetraninic acid tetranitrate.
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Photos recovered from iCloud seem to indicate that Phillips is making explosive devices in the shed. Three photos were found in Phillips' iCloud account taken on February 26, 2024, which appear to show explosive devices built in the shed. (Federal Affidavit)
When they tested the IED detonator, it exploded, breaking the handheld chemical recognition device.
With the help of the FBI, investigators used cellular data to track Phillips' phone between 12:15 a.m. and 12:21 a.m., the same phone allegedly sent two text messages shortly after the SUV encountered police.
On December 2, 2024, Phillips reportedly obtained a photo of his driver's license, which the affidavit said showed the curly hair he saw when he met the driver.
Investigators executed a search warrant on an Apple iCloud account associated with the phone, which began April 5, 2024, showing a video showing two unidentified men in a parking lot under street lights, near a portable restroom and a football net.
The number of one of the men can be heard before the explosion detonates. In another video, it seems from the same incident, an unidentified person said, “James, we have to go” and “James, come on.”
The prosecutor said
The interior photos of the shed recycled from iCloud appear to show that the shed contains electricity, a rack of glass beakers, a heated magnetic mixer, and unknown chemicals and powders. (Federal Affidavit)
The video then showed a hole in the ground, which investigators said was the result of a previous explosion. Then the two men were seen picking up debris and the remaining parts. The affidavit states that GPS data of the video metadata showed that the video was taken in a parking lot of the same football field in Lebanon, and police encountered the IED a few months later.
It is reported that starting July 21, 2024, photos and videos of other explosions were found on the iCloud account, including the destruction of the car.
Investigators wrote that in one of the videos, Phillips was holding an explosive device and the other dropped from five to one.
“After Phillips pressed the explosion, he heard a big bang in the distance, and an unidentified male could be heard saying, 'It blows up the car on the tree line,'” the affidavit said. “Other photos and videos taken on July 21, 2024 showed the explosion, followed by photos that destroyed a car that seemed to have been destroyed by the explosion.”
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The subsequent investigation revealed to detectives that Phillips purchased “precursor chemicals and materials for homemade explosives” that were transported to his home in Mason and to his home at another residence in Oxford.
The affidavit claims that his iCloud account also allegedly also has recipes and notes on how to build an explosive device.
The photos allegedly showed Phillips building explosive devices in a shed in the woods.
Phillips is expected to hold a bond hearing in court on Friday and will continue to be detained until then.
