Henderson man questioned in Nashville bombing arrested after threats to FBI agent

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A Henderson, Kentucky, man who was questioned and cleared in connection to the Christmas Day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee, has been arrested in connection to threats against the FBI agent who interviewed him. 

On Christmas morning, an RV exploded in the 160 block of Second Avenue North near an AT&T building in Nashville. 

A criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Kentucky makes the following allegations against Ray:

The day of the explosion, the FBI received a tip concerning statements James Keith Ray of Henderson had made toward AT&T.

Ray said AT&T was "abusing their power" and their policies were "criminal." On the evening of the Nashville bombing, FBI agents, including Special Agent James M. Brown, located Ray in his home in Henderson where he lives with his parents. 

They questioned Ray but ruled him out as a suspect in the Christmas Day bombing. 

Three days later, Ray posted a video on YouTube of the interview with the FBI agents he had recorded without their knowledge. 

On Jan. 5, the FBI learned that Ray, using his Twitter account @JKeithRayl, posted threatening statements directed toward Special Agent Brown.

Those tweets read:

"The man speaking identified himself as agent Brown from the Owensboro FBI office and told me verbatim that his boss called him and said that that RV was registered to someone in my family I want that f**** bosses name"

"Agent brown if you ever step on this property while I'm here you are a dead man do you hear me there is no amount of armor that will protect you from the range of my f***** soul"

A U.S. magistrate judge in the Western District of Kentucky determined there was probable cause to charge Ray with interstate transmission of a threat to injure the person of another. 

The same judge ruled Ray was to remain in custody pending future court proceedings in the case. 

When the FBI began looking into Ray, they found he had made concerning statements in the past that had been brought to the attention of the FBI. 

In September of 2016, Ray posted comments on Facebook regarding his dissatisfaction with AT&T, Apple, Facebook, Walmart and Independence Bank in Bowling Green, Kentucky. One of the comments read "#FBI last call before I act on your behalf."

Task Force officers interviewed Ray as well as his parents, who said they were afraid of Ray and "locked their bedroom door at night."

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In 2018, Ray was once again interviewed by the FBI after sending an email to a news station in Nashville that contained a link to a YouTube video. 

In the video, Ray referenced the shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, and said: "let the so-called story out of Maryland ring through to your offices and you look around and imagine the shock you're going to realize that half of the people that you see right now might be dead by the weekend at the hand of someone who isn't a strong as I am that has a little bit more of a temper than I do."

During the 2018 interview, Ray told the FBI he didn't recall sending emails to a news station.