A criminal complaint filed this week in federal court details what agents found when they entered and searched a Willow Run Drive home in South Toledo — an AK-47, a shotgun, multiple handguns, ammunition, and a shopping bag full of end caps, a component often used to build pipe bombs.
Authorities believe Vincent Armstrong, 23, lived at 3608 Willow Run Drive with Elizabeth Lecron, 23, who was charged Monday with transporting explosive materials with intent to injure or damage property after she purchased black powder to make a bomb.
Law enforcement officials told The Blade Tuesday criminal charges are pending against Mr. Armstrong in connection to his girlfriend’s case. He’s scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday morning, and remains in custody in the Lucas County’s jail.
Federal agents also found during the search, according to a criminal complaint, journals referencing an at times tumultuous romantic relationship between the couple, an admiration for violence, and a desire to orchestrate killings and mayhem.
“[Subject-1] and I got into a fight last night,” a journal entry dated June, 8, 2018, stated. “Not really a fight fight, but I caught him being dishonest. I’m really hurt. Truly. Why does this happen to me??? I still love him immensely and D-day is on track.”
The FBI’s August search of the Willow Run Drive home for months remained a secret to both Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Lecron and the public. The search warrant, according to court records, allowed the feds to enter the property “surreptitiously,” and prosecutors contend Ms. Lecron — who’s accused of writing the June 8 journal entry — and Mr. Armstrong — “Subject-1” — weren’t even in Ohio at the time.
Instead, prosecutors say, they were in Littleton, Colo., paying homage to the killers who perpetrated the Columbine school shooting.
Now Mr. Armstrong joins his girlfriend, Ms. Lecron, and another man at the center of two separate northwest Ohio terrorism cases.
In addition to the arrest of Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Lecron, Damon Joseph, 21, of Holland, was arrested Friday. He’s accused of separately planning to commit a totally unrelated mass shooting at a Toledo synagogue.
Federal prosecutors contend that, between August and last week, Ms. Lecron told an FBI informant that she wanted to commit “upscale” mass murder at a Toledo bar, damage a livestock farm and set the livestock free, and link up with other “anarchists” to form a team. She also talked with the informant about blowing up a pipeline.
Authorities said that, by “upscale,” Ms. Lecron meant she intended to target a large number of people.
Police arrested her after she purchased black powder and screws for a pipe bomb that she believed would be used in a domestic terrorist attack.
Mr. Armstrong was arrested Monday.
Throughout the summer and fall, Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Lecron frequently talked about committing a mass murder, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio. He was gathering pipe bomb materials, and she wanted to attack a two-story bar in Toledo. Officials have declined to identify the target.
Mr. Armstrong was originally identified in Ms. Lecron’s court filings as “Subject-1.” A law enforcement official confirmed “Subject-1” was Mr. Armstrong.
On June 11, Toledo police received a tip about Mr. Armstrong’s desire to commit a violent attack. They also were told he had multiple guns in his possession, and that he was gathering materials to build a pipe bomb, according to the complaint.
The tipster told police that Mr. Armstrong’s behavior began to change after he started dating and living with Ms. Lecron, the complaint states. He began exclusively wearing black shirts and camouflage pants, he and Ms. Lecron started going to a shooting range in Oregon, and they talked about anarchist ideas. The tipster also directed police to Ms. Lecron’s social media accounts, where she frequently posted about mass murder.
Police passed the information to the Northwest Ohio Joint Terrorism Task Force.
On Aug. 17, Mr. Armstrong went with Ms. Lecron to Littleton, Colo., to visit sites related to the Columbine High School shooting, the complaint states. Ms. Lecron posted a photo of Mr. Armstrong at the Columbine Memorial to a since-deleted Tumblr account where Ms. Lecron frequently posted photos and memes of Dylann Roof and other mass murderers.
On Aug. 19, while Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Lecron were in Colorado, federal agents searched the Willow Run Drive home, where they found the guns, the blasting caps, and the journals, according to court records.
In September, Ms. Lecron told a confidential informant and several undercover FBI agents, whom she believed were “like-minded people,” that Mr. Armstrong had researched how to build a pipe bomb and “purchased several pieces of a pipe bomb like end caps, but had not completed one yet,” the complaint states.
At the time agents searched the Willow Run Drive home, all of the material found was legally owned by Ms. Lecron and Mr. Armstrong, a law enforcement official said.
In his own journal, Mr. Armstrong detailed his desire to kill other people and the steps he’d taken to build pipe bombs, according to court records. On May 18, he wrote, “Today is a good day,” and referenced an event in Texas, which law enforcement believe was the shooting at Santa Fe High School. That day, eight students and two teachers were fatally shot there and 13 others were wounded.
“I have a vision. A vision to kill. To hunt the unwilling,” he wrote in an entry dated June 8. “These peasants to society. The hatred towards the human race is bewildering. It makes me feel so good to know I will end it all. Very soon.”
First Published December 11, 2018, 9:03 p.m.
