A St. Charles man pleaded guilty in federal court in Nebraska on Thursday to a charge of threatening to “wreck, derail, and disable railroad on-track equipment and a mass transportation vehicle” for an incident in October, court records show.
Taylor Michael Wilson, of St. Charles, pleaded guilty to a terrorism charge after he allegedly tried to stop an Amtrak train in Nebraska. Photo courtesy of the Lincoln Journal Star.
Taylor Michael Wilson, 26, was originally on that charge and one count claiming he attempted “to interfere with, disable, or incapacitate any locomotive engineer or railroad conductor.”
That second count will be dismissed as part of the plea. He could be sentenced to up to life in prison.
Wilson admitted boarding the train in California with a handgun and ammunition as well as ID cards “relating to the (National) Socialist Movement,” his plea says. On Oct. 23, in Nebraska, Wilson entered a secured engine compartment, disabled the train and cut the lights to the passenger compartment.
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Some panicked passengers tried to escape through the train’s windows, particularly when they discovered it was another passenger who had caused the emergency stop. Conductors struggled to subdue Wilson, who grabbed at his waistband, where a deputy would later find the handgun.
Wilson uttered racial slurs, said, “‘Human beings are a plague on the planet,’ and told a deputy he “was going to save the train from the black people,” his plea says.
When FBI agents raided Wilson’s St. Charles home in December, they found National Socialist propaganda hidden in hollowed-out sections of the walls, as well as body armor and pressure plates that can be used to make an explosive device, his plea says. They also recovered guns, including a , and a short-barreled rifle, a pistol.
They found writings containing “numerous derogatory and threatening comments about the Jewish race and African-Americans” in Wilson’s journals, the plea says.
Wilson bought an airline ticket with plans to travel to Syria and fight with Isis but decided not to go, the plea says. The agreement said Wilson admitted telling a cellmate that he had “dropped acid” before loading his gun and stopping the train.
As part of the plea, Wilson has agreed to plead to possession of an unregistered firearm in federal court in Ƶ.
Charging documents also claim that Wilson may have been involved in a “road rage” incident in St. Charles in 2016 in which a gun was pointed at a black woman.
