BREAKING THREAD: On April 11, Russell Vane IV - the subject of my reporting who allegedly attempted to provoke a Virginia militia group into producing explosives - was arrested.
He is charged with "Attempted production of a biological agent or toxin."
2) According to the criminal complaint, the FBI received multiple tips after I published the story about Vane - who went by Duke - on April 1.
He apparently tried to legally change his name on April 3, the same day a false obituary of him appeared.
3) The feds cite my reporting, where I show unclassified government documents that the Virginia Kekoas militia members were allegedly handed by Duke, and he later appears to acknowledge giving them.
4) The FBI says they learned "In coordination with one government agency" that Duke had printed off the documents on February 12 "Based on government records."
This appears to imply Vane has a job at the "government agency" or at least he has work access to government files.
5) The documents were allegedly printed as early as February 12 before being given to the militia on March 9.
A big mystery: Why, on February 27, did Duke appear to claim someone else had been arrested for doing the same?
6) So, apparently, feds raided Russell Richardson Vane IV aka Duke's house, where they allegedly found evidence that he was extracting ricin, a toxic poison, and arrested him.
7) Vane is currently in federal custody and faces a detention hearing on Monday.
As I previously reported, he is definitely not dead, as claimed by an obituary and someone on his phone talking to @HannahAllam.
8) To reiterate: According to this federal criminal complaint, Vane printed documents about explosives from "his work computer" and walked out of "a secure government facility" with them and handed them to a militia group.
9) While I'm not aware of any elements of the story taking place in Washington DC itself, it appears this arrest was conducted by a Joint Terrorism Task Force out of the Washington DC (not Virginia) field office.
10) Side note: Duke has an account on Airbnb, where he lists five places for rent.
"Lives in Vienna, VA"
"I'm obsessed with: Chemistry"
"Ask Duke about Shooting sports"
"My biography title: Read This Vainglorious Thing"
airbnb.com/users/show/125…
11) I need to reiterate: My story came out April 1.
On April 3, an obituary for Russell Vane IV appeared online.
That same day, Vane walked into a courthouse alive and allegedly attempted to legally change his name.
12) At the moment, which "government facility" Russell Vane IV worked at is unclear, but here's the federal connections I can point out for him and his father (Russell Vane III):
-He was once a Marine Intel Specialist ()
-He then worked at Booz Allen Hamilton, a military/government/intelligence contractor. ()
-He allegedly told the militia he worked for the CIA ()
-He later insinuated to the group that he worked at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) or United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (NGIF)
-He provided the group documents marked as coming from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and NGA
-His father Russell "Russ" Vane III worked as a Data Scientist for geospatial intelligence company OGSystems () and his Facebook says "Worked at DHS" (Department of Homeland Security) ()
-Vane IV has now been arrested by the FBI.
facebook.com/russ.vane
"A whole lot of houses burning and going kaboom. I wonder if some subversive force has released some literature and is encouraging these explosions?"
-Duke allegedly weeks after leaving his job at a secure government facility with bomb making documents.
These words were allegedly spoken by Duke less than a month after allegedly walking out of a “secure government facility” per the federal affidavit with explosives-related documents printed from his work computer.
15) I missed one federal agency Duke has apparently been affiliated with: Russell R Vane IV is listed as staff at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in their 2007 publication Survey of Current Business.
google.com/books/edition/…
16) Ironically, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), Vane/Duke's employer in 2007, moved to the Suitland Federal Center in 2016.
This is the same facility Vane pled guilty to bringing guns into for a job interview in 2010.
bizjournals.com/washington/bre…
17) NEW: A LinkedIn profile appearing to portray Russell Vane IV exists online titled "Russell V" allegedly with a TS/SCI clearance.
This profile says he has worked at Deloitte since 2015, where he has "Briefed multiple intelligence agencies."
linkedin.com/in/russell-v-3…
18) The Linkedin says Vane/Duke previously worked at OGSystems (the same workplace as his father at the time ) and Booz Allen Hamilton ().
Both of these are consistent with my and @HannahAllam's prior reporting.
@HannahAllam 19) The LinkedIn also describes him performing "Classified Intelligence Analyst Work" with the Marine Corps at Quantico (consistent with ) and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) (consistent with my reporting as well ).
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