Law enforcement officials say a 55-year-old New York man reportedly used AI to help him build bombs that he planned to detonate in Manhattan.
Michael Gann of Long Island, New York, is accused of building several homemade bombs with the help of AI, an endeavor he claims was “easier than buying gun powder,” according to court documents obtained by NBC News.
The suspect, who was indicted by federal prosecutors on Tuesday, allegedly transported the bombs from Long Island to Manhattan, storing five of them and four shotgun shells on the roof of an apartment building in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.
Court documents reportedly reveal that Gann, who is accused of planning to combine the shotgun shells with one or more of the bombs, told authorities that he had used two household compounds he ordered online to make the improvised explosives.
One of the bombs Gann built had roughly 30 grams of explosive powder, which is roughly 600 times the legal limit for consumer fireworks, officials said.
A witness who had served in the military reportedly told the FBI that Gann asked him, “What kind of veteran are you?” before declaring, “You see a problem going on in the neighborhood and you do nothing about it,” while he was mixing the explosives on Long Island. “Gann then pointed to a Jewish school,” the criminal complaint states.
On June 5, a second witness called Gann and allowed the FBI to listen in. During their conversation, the suspect told the witness that “he had lit one of the devices near the East River on the FDR Drive — that the device had exploded, scaring Gann,” the complaint adds.
Later that day, authorities saw Gann walking down a street with a shoulder bag. After the agents identified themselves, the 55-year-old told them he was heading to the fire department to drop the devices off, the complaint reads.
Both witnesses had also told law enforcement that Gann said he was considering getting rid of the remaining five bombs by either throwing them into the river or handing the explosives over to the New York City Fire Department.
Upon being placed under arrest, Gann reportedly told law enforcement that he “wished to make pyrotechnics and used artificial intelligence to learn which chemicals to purchase and mix.”
Gann is accused of initially creating four bombs and throwing three of them from the Williamsburg Bridge, resulting in two of the devices falling into the water and the third landing on the train tracks, where it was recovered.
“Gann allegedly produced multiple improvised explosive devices intended for use in Manhattan,” Christopher Raia, head of the FBI’s New York field office, said. “Due to the successful partnership of law enforcement agencies in New York, Gann was swiftly brought to justice before he could harm innocent civilians.”
Authorities said Gann appeared to have been acting alone, and was not a part of a group.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
