James River Phillips, 20, of Mason, Warren County, Ohio, United States has been arrested. He is accused of possessing a dangerous destructive device.
James River Phillips
Phillips is also a resident of Oxford, Butler County, Ohio, which is around 24 miles away from Liberty Township, Butler County, Ohio and around 40 miles away from Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio. He allegedly bought chemicals and materials made for homemade explosives and shipped those to two locations, one in Oxford and one in Mason.
Photos in Phillips’ iCloud account show him making explosive devices in the shed. He neither has firearms and destructive devices registered to him in the National Firearms Registration nor has a license or a permit.
A video taken on July 21, 2024 and saved in the account shows destruction of a car destroyed by an explosion. On the evening of September 21, 2024, Lebanon Police Department patrol officers encountered him and another man driving a silver sport utility vehicle at an outdoor soccer complex in Lebanon, Warren County, which is around 8.2 miles away from Mason.
After the officers told the men they needed to leave because the complex, the men complied. At around 12:30 a.m. on September 22, 2024, one of the officers discovered an improvised explosive device (IED) in a parking lot of the complex in Lebanon.
The Butler County Bomb Squad was called in and seized the device, which had wires running from a pile of white powder to a control switch. When the IED was tested, its detonator exploded.
After an investigation by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Phillips was identified as the primary suspect who left the device at the complex. The task force connected him to other incidents where he allegedly possessed and detonated potential explosives.
A video dated April 5, 2025 and saved in Phillips’ iCloud account shows two men in a parking lot with a soccer net in the background. One of them counts down to 1 before an explosive device detonates.
Another video from the same account shows a hole in the ground that was a result of an explosion. In the video, a man says “James, we gotta go” and “James, come on.”
After a law enforcement activity at locations in Mason, Oxford, and Liberty Township, Ohio, which was authorized by a federal court, the JTTF of the FBI field office in Cincinnati executed a search warrant at a residence near Sentinel Oak Drive and Sycamore View Drive in Mason on April 17, 2025. The search led to the arrest of Phillips.
On April 19, 2025, Phillips appeared in federal court without his family retained attorney Scott Croswell. On April 22, 2025, the Mason resident will be back in court.
CONAN Daily 