Following the investigation by several law enforcement agencies within a residence in Mason for hours, one man was taken into custody by FBI agents, officials said in a press release. James Phillips, 20, was taken into custody after he allegedly possessed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), the FBI stated. He is federally charged with possession of an unregistered firearm (destructive device), federal court records stated.

“The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested James River Phillips after he was allegedly in possession of a destructive device that posed a threat to life,”

FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola said. “The FBI and our partners worked collaboratively to ensure his activities were brought to an end before there was any danger to public safety.”

A Lebanon Police Department patrol officer discovered Phillips’ alleged IED on September 22, 2024, at a sports complex outdoors, according to an FBI release. Court filings indicate that the device was found roughly 12:30 a.m. in a remote parking end of a massive soccer stadium in Lebanon.

“It’s horrible to consider that people would go so far as to do something like that where your babies play,”

said mother Halee Page. When officals recovered the instrument, they also had connection with two men in a silver SUV, near to where the device was left. “The IED had wires going from a heap of white powder to a control switch,” said the court documents.

Residue and powder tests coducted by the Butler County Bomb Squad prior to testing the detonator of the IED; the IED detonator exploded during testing, according to the court records. That device was retrieved by the Butler County Bomb Squad and the parts were analyzed, the FBI stated.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force had named Phillips the “primary suspect” who was supposed to have planted the device at the sports complex; the FBI informed that the task force also linked Phillips to other incidents “in which he is said to have possessed and detonated suspected explosives.”

Cell phone of Phillips was discovered to have been in the area of the soccer complex in Lebanon on the same evening the IED was discovered, the court documents reveals. According to the court documents, Phillips had several photos and videos proving his innocence in his Apple iCloud account, the search warrant states.

“For instance, on April 5, 2024, two unknown males are seen in a nighttime parking lot under streetlights with portable toilets and a soccer goal in the background,” states the paper. “On the video, an unknown male is heard counting down from one and upon getting one, an explosive device is detonated. In another video that appears to be from the same incident, the unknown male on the recording can be heard speaking ‘James we gotta go’ and ‘James come on.'”

Videos also evidence a crater on the ground resulting from the blast, the reports add. In other images and videos on the iCloud, the two men are seen to blow up a vehicle, court papers state. One tape catches Phillips having what appears to be a detonation device with a silver transmitter; there is a voisound counting down from ten to one and then a big explosion is heard in the background. Images on the iCloud depicted a damaged vehicle officials suspect was blown up by a device, court papers state.

During the federal probe, authorities discovered that Phillips bought several chemicals and supplies and sent them to two places where he resides — one in Mason, another in Oxford. Phillips’ records from Amazon also revealed he bought things and parts that described products recovered from the IED Butler County Bomb Squad detonated, documents state.

Besides, records state the iCloud account also had images of a shed in the backyard of the Mason household, where Phillips reportedly had unidentified chemicals and powders, as well as racks of glass beakers and other gear. Additional photos seem to depict Phillip constructing explosive devices in that shed, the court records state.