A Missouri man is facing fourteen years in prison for pulling an emergency brake while on an Amtrak train in Nebraska in October of last year.
On Friday, 26 year old Taylor Wilson, of St. Charles, Missouri, was sentenced in federal court. Prosecutors say on October 22nd, 2017 Wilson pulled the emergency brake on the train "with the intent to harm those aboard." An FBI affidavit stated that an Amtrak conductor contacted 911 because a passenger "breached a secure area of the train and triggered an emergency stop control panel."
Prosecutors say at the time, Wilson was armed with a handgun, knife and hammer. The incident reportedly occurred after Wilson got into an argument with a black passenger.
During the course of the investigation, the FBI discovered a video on Wilson's phone of a white supremacist banner being placed on a highway overpass along with files of The Anarchist Cookbook and The Ultimate Sniper. In the affidavit, FBI special agent Monte Czaplewski said "The described documents are often possessed and utilized by individuals and groups attempting or planning to commit criminal acts or acts of terrorism or violence."
In a witness interview, a former roommate said Wilson was a member of alt-right and neo-Nazi groups he "found while researching white supremacy forums online." The witness also said Wilson was interested in "killing black people," and had even traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia to join in a neo-Nazi rally there.
In July, Wilson pleaded guilty to one terrorism charge and a weapons charge and in exchange, other charges were dropped. Wilson said he was high on drugs at the time and had no terroristic intentions.