Two East Tennessee men allegedly planned to attack the FBI’s Knoxville field office and kill law enforcement officers who were involved in the investigation into one of the men’s alleged roles in the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to a federal criminal complaint unsealed Friday.
33-year-old Edward Kelley of Maryville and 26-year-old Austin Carter of Knoxville are charged with several crimes, including conspiracy, retaliating against a federal official, interstate communication of a threat, and solicitation to commit a crime of violence. Both were detained by law enforcement agents last week. Carter faces a detention hearing on Wednesday (12/21).

According to the US Attorney’s Office, in May, Kelley was arrested and charged with assaulting a law enforcement officer during the breach of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Investigators allege he was the fourth person to enter the Capitol during the insurrection.

Sometime between his arrest in May and November of this year, the Justice Department says that Kelley obtained a list of law enforcement personnel who participated in that criminal investigation and, along with Carter, discussed plans to kill individuals on the list in conversations with a witness who began cooperating with investigators within the past two weeks. Those plans included an attack on the FBI’s Knoxville Field Office, according to a press release.