Associate of LaVoy Finicum Accused of Trying to Blow Up Federal Cabins

Former coyote hunting guide faces federal charges in Utah.

By Nigel Jaquiss

Federal authorities have charged a Utah man with trying to bomb federal Bureau of Land Management property in Arizona.

In its account of the case, The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the accused, William Keebler, allegedly wanted to blow up BLM cabins near Finicum's Arizona ranch.

Keebler, an Army veteran who formerly guided hunters going after coyotes, according to the Tribune, assembled a small militia, not realizing the two of its members were undercover FBI agents.

Keebler's attorney says the feds entrapped him, painting a scenario that has arisen in terrorism cases around the country—including the "Christmas Tree bomber" case in Oregon, in which a young Beaverton man, Mohamed Mohamud, befriended by undercover agents thought he was going to blow up Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Keebler's arrest contains striking echoes of Mohamud's bust:

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