Investigators are examining whether a suicide bomber in fear of 5G technology could be behind an explosion on Christmas morning in historic downtown Nashville, which injured three people.
The blast, which caused extensive damage to dozens of buildings in Tennessee’s largest city, occurred outside a facility owned by telecommunications company AT&T and disrupted or disrupted mobile services in several other cities.
Federal agents spent the weekend investigating a 63-year-old man who owned an RV trailer similar to what detectives believe was turned into a mobile bomb and taken to the scene.
Meanwhile, a Nashville television news channel reported that a person of interest, named Anthony Warner, from a southeastern suburb, worked as an information technology consultant for a real estate firm.
Steve Fridrich, a real estate agent who contacted the FBI after hearing the man’s name in a newsletter, told WSMV TV that federal agents asked him if Warner had a paranoia about 5G technology.
According to the WSMV, sources close to the police investigation said that among the various tips and lines of investigation was one that suggested that Warner believed in a conspiracy theory that 5G technology was being used to spy on Americans.
The FBI did not name any suspects, but it did search Warner’s home in the Nashville suburb of Antioch after technicians from the bomb squad cleaned the property. Previously, a spokesman said human remains had been recovered from the blast site and that the agency was not actively looking for any more suspects.
DNA results in human tissue were expected soon.
Douglas Korneski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Memphis, said hundreds of agents were combing at least 500 clues and clues, and that it was too early to focus on any particular theory.
“It will only take some time,” he said at a news conference on Saturday night. “We are looking at all possible reasons [and] our investigation team is turning over every stone. “
Asked whether the AT&T building could have been a possible target, Korneski said: “We are looking into all possible reasons that could be involved.”
On Sunday, the mayor of Nashville seemed to indicate that the 5G conspiracy theory could be relevant to the investigation. “For all of us locally, it looks like there must be some connection to the AT&T facility and the bombing location,” said John Cooper on CBS’s Face the Nation program.
“This is just a local perception, because it has to have something to do with the infrastructure.”
Cooper has been in close contact with federal and local law enforcement agencies conducting the investigation, and also with Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee, who asked Donald Trump for a federal disaster declaration.
The president, meanwhile, was playing golf in Florida on Sunday and the White House had not responded to Lee’s request.
The explosion occurred on Christmas morning when police officers, called to the scene for reports of gunfire, tried to evacuate local residents. A sinister shrill recording of the RV with a woman’s voice, interspersed with pieces of music, warned that an explosion was imminent.
Two policemen suffered life-threatening injuries when the blast sent black smoke and flames from downtown Nashville’s tourist district.
Civil and emergency communications networks in Nashville and several other cities, including Louisville, Knoxville, Birmingham and Atlanta, were affected.
AT&T said on Sunday that it was redirecting service to other facilities while the company was working to restore its heavily damaged building. The company said in a statement that it was bringing in resources to help recover the affected voice and data services and expects to have an additional 24 trailers of disaster recovery equipment on site by the end of the day.
Ray Neville, president of technology at T-Mobile, another mobile operator, said on Twitter: “We continue to see service interruptions. Restoration efforts continue 24 hours a day and we will keep you updated on progress. “
The interruptions briefly interrupted flights at Nashville International Airport, although service returned to normal on Saturday night. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued restrictions on flights around the airport until December 30.
Cooper signed a civil emergency declaration for the areas of Nashville affected by the explosion, including a curfew.
Associated Press contributed to this report