On June 2, 2020, a 23-year-old man from Virginia entered a local medical center displaying severe injuries, including a missing hand.
He told authorities that a lawnmower accident was to blame, but FBI investigations later revealed that he had actually sustained the injuries while trying to build a bomb intended for an attack on women he referred to as "hot cheerleaders."
The Daily Beast reported that Cole Carini, who had prior convictions involving explosives, became the focus of further investigation. Authorities obtained a warrant to search his residence and alerted the FBI.
At his home, investigators followed a chilling trail of blood from a red minivan in the driveway up to a bedroom on the second floor. However, the interior of the house held even more alarming evidence.
The report detailed finding a "flesh-colored substance that looked like a piece of human skin." Inside a footlocker, investigators discovered a plastic bottle containing triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, a compound often used in making improvised explosive devices.
Incel Makes Bomb To Target Cheerleaders, Accidentally Detonates It On Himself The affidavit describes the aftermath of the suspected bomb blast in the bedroom, noting damaged blinds and chunks of flesh adhering to the ceiling.
The explosion appeared to originate from a plastic container beside the footlocker, which was "peeled back in a manner consistent with an explosion." Nearby, a box filled with rusty nails was found, elements typically used to increase shrapnel in homemade bombs.
Just down the street, in a shed behind Carini's grandmother's house, another collection of suspicious items was uncovered, including empty chemical containers, assorted wires, and PVC pipes.
In the same shed, a crumpled letter found on the floor outlined what seemed to be a plan for a shopping mall bomb attack.
Incel Makes Bomb To Target Cheerleaders, Accidentally Detonates It On Himself The partly readable document was composed in the third person: "He was doing it and was assured it must be done. Even if he died this statement was worth it! He had…of tension that would come and go as he approached the stage of hot cheerleaders…A dead seriousness sank in as he realized he was truly passing the point of no return! He decided I will not back down I will not be afraid of the consequences no matter what I will be heroic I will make a statement like Elliott Rodgers [sic] did he thought to himself."
Elliot Rodger, described by investigators as an "involuntary celibate" or "incel," killed six people and injured 14 others in 2014 in Santa Barbara, California, before ending his own life.
Included in Rodger's manifesto was the chilling declaration, "If I can't have you girls, I will destroy you."
The manifesto cemented Rodger's status as an icon among "incels," men who identify as involuntarily celibate and often entertain violent revenge fantasies against women they believe have spurned them. Incels have been associated with at least 53 fatalities to date.
A further piece of incriminating evidence that contradicted Carini's account was the six-inch-high grass outside his home, which clearly showed no recent mowing had occurred. Yet, even when confronted by the FBI with overwhelming evidence, he persisted in claiming it was a lawnmower accident.
In light of the grave findings, Carini now faces a charge of lying to federal investigators, as stated by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
