FBI says Nashville bombing was not an act of terrorism

Debris from the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 16 March 2021

With "a significant portion" of its investigation finished, the FBI on Monday said it has determined Anthony Warner detonated a bomb in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day in order to die by suicide, not to commit an act of terror.

Warner, 63, died after detonating an explosive device inside his RV. The bombing also damaged at least 40 buildings and disrupted communications in the region. The FBI said it has sifted through more than 3,000 pounds of evidence from the blast site, reviewed 2,500 tips, and conducted over 250 interviews, and agents are confident that Warner acted entirely on his own.

Investigators were not been able to find any indications that the bombing was meant to spark social or political change, or due to any personal grudges, CBS News reports. Instead, the FBI said it was "an intentional act in an effort to end his own life" and "driven in part by a totality of life stressors — including paranoia, long-held individualized beliefs adopted from several eccentric conspiracy theories, and the loss of stabilizing anchors and deteriorating interpersonal relationships."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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