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Unsupported claims circulated on the internet that 5G towers were pelting people with microwaves and spreading COVID-19.
Sean Aaron Smith, 30, received the sentence this week after pleading guilty in August to six counts of arson affecting interstate and foreign commerce and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said in a statement.
Authorities arrested Smith after a witness reported that the man was on a mission to destroy 5G cell phone towers as part of his “anti-government views," according to earlier news reports. Smith was accused of trying to torch multiple towers around San Antonio between April 2021 and May 2022, according to court documents.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, unsupported claims circulated on the internet that 5G technology, including towers used to carry phone and data signals, were microwaving unsuspecting citizens and spreading the coronavirus.
Smith was arrested following a May 13, 2022, traffic stop during which police located a handgun on the floorboard of the vehicle, according to the Justice Department. A subsequent search of his apartment turned up an additional firearms, officials said.
“An attack on the infrastructure of a community has the potential for devastating effects,” FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Doug Olson said in statement. “Sean Smith tried multiple times to burn cell phone towers down around San Antonio in support of his anti-5G ideology. When he was caught, he had a handgun in his vehicle, despite his status as a convicted felon."
In addition to the FBI, the San Antonio Fire Department Arson Squad, San Antonio Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Rangers investigated the case, according to federal authorities.
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