Ian Benjamin Rogers is a white man from California, United States. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He is a resident of Napa, California. _(a)
2. He is a gun collector and a certified Land Rover technician. He holds a master automotive service excellence license. _(b)(c)
3. He is married to a Ukrainian citizen. _(c)
4. He is a Donald Trump supporter. He once attended a barbecue hosted by the Three Percenters although he is not a member of the anti-government group. _(d)
5. In 1995, he graduated from Wyoming Technical Institute in Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, USA with an associate’s degree in automotive technology. _(b)
6. He owns the British Auto Repair of the Napa Valley, which he opened in August 2005. Based in Napa, the mechanic shop specializes in repairing Jaguars and Land Rovers. _(b)(c)
7. In November of 2020, he allegedly told Jarrod Copeland via encrypted messaging applications that he would “hit the enemy in the mouth” by using Molotov cocktails and gasoline to attack targets associated with Democrats. After the 2020 U.S. presidential election on November 3, 2020, he and Copeland allegedly started planning to attack targets they associated with Democrats. They allegedly agreed to start with the John L. Burton Democratic Headquarters in Sacramento, California, USA. _(a)
8. On January 10, 2021, he sent a text message to Copeland saying, “We can attack Twitter or the democrats you pick.” On January 11, 2021, he sent another text message to Copeland saying, “I want to blow up a democrat building bad.” (a) (e)
9. On January 15, 2021, he was arrested. That day, the Napa County Sheriff’s Office, the Napa Special Investigations Bureau and the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized 49 firearms and around 24 ammunition boxes containing thousands of rounds of ammunition from his home and business in Napa County. The authorities also found manuals including “The Anarchist Cookbook,” “U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook,” “Homemade C-4 A Recipe for Survival,” “U.S. Army Special Forces Guide to Unconventional Warfare” and “U.S. Army Guerrilla Warfare Handbook.” He had no criminal record prior to the arrest. Bail for him was set at $5 million. _{(a)(c)(d)(e)(f)}
10. On January 20, 2021, he attended a 33-minute arraignment hearing at the Napa County Courthouse before Judge Cynthia P. Smith. The judge denied a defense request to overturn a law enforcement motion boosting his bail requirement from the original $100,000 to $5 million within hours of the arrest. _(c)
11. FBI special agent Stephanie Minor filed a criminal complaint against him, which U.S. Magistrate Judge Alex G. Tse signed on January 26, 2021. He was charged with conspiracy to destroy by fire or explosive a building used or in affecting interstate commerce, possession of unregistered destructive devices and three counts of possession of machine guns. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives special agent Andrew Balady determined that he did not have any destructive devices registered to him in the National Firearms Registry. On January 29, 2021, he pleaded not guilty to the 28 state felony charges at a hearing in Napa County Superior Court. He was represented by Jess Raphael. _(d)(e)
12. On September 28, 2022, he was scheduled to accept a plea deal, which Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer refused to accept. He was represented by Colin Cooper. _(f)
13. He was 47 years old when he wrote a four-page letter dated October 7, 2022 begging Breyer to accept a plea deal. On February 8, 2023, the letter was filed in court in San Francisco, California. _(g)

(This is a developing story. More details will be added.)

_SOURCES:

• _{a. U.S. Department of Justice}
• _{b. Yelp}
• _{c.  Napa Valley Register}
• _{d. KTLA}
• _{e. Stephanie Minor}
• _{f. U.S. Department of Justice}
• _{g. The Sacramento Bee}