Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
A Tennessee man has pleaded guilty in federal court to plotting a violent attack on Nashvilles energy infrastructure using a drone rigged with explosives, a plan that officials say could have knocked out power to thousands of homes and critical facilities.
Skyler Philippi, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility. He will be sentenced on Jan. 8, 2026, and faces up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
“For months, Philippi planned what he had hoped would be a devastating attack on Nashvilles energy infrastructure. He acquired what he believed to be explosives, surveilled his target, and equipped a drone to attack an electrical substation. Motivated by a violent ideology, Philippi wanted to do something big. Instead, the FBI disrupted his plans, and Philippi now awaits sentencing,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg…