LAS VEGAS (AP) – Three Nevada men accused of planning a terror attack during recent Las Vegas protests are now in federal custody on firearms and explosives charges, authorities said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe decided Wednesday that Stephen Parshall and William Loomis, both of Las Vegas, should remain in federal custody. The judge gave attorneys for Andrew Lynam, of Henderson, until next Tuesday to prepare arguments for his release pending trial.
The three defendants appeared by video conference from a federal detention center in Pahrump, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported .
They were arrested May 30 by police and the FBI while allegedly preparing gasoline-and-glass-bottle firebombs on the way to a protest in Las Vegas of the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes.
Each had been held on $1 million bail each at the county jail in Las Vegas. Parshall’s lawyer has said he’ll challenge accounts of a confidential informant involved in the investigation.
Authorities tie the men to the right-wing extremist “boogaloo” movement, a loosely organized internet-rooted network of gun enthusiasts expressing support for overthrowing the U.S. government.
Each also faces conspiracy, explosives and terrorism charges in local court.
