An Oklahoma man is accused of vandalizing a TV station's weather radar, police said Thursday, in what the station says could be an attack inspired by an anti-government militia group.
Anthony Tyler Mitchell, 39, has been booked on suspicion of felony malicious injury to property, burglary and damage to critical infrastructure, Oklahoma City Police Capt. Valerie Littlejohn said in a statement.
CBS affiliate KWTV reported that it has video of a man destroying the power supply to the station's NextGen Live radar in northeast Oklahoma City.
The station linked the attack to rhetoric by Veterans on Patrol, an anti-government militia group.
"At this time, we are not able to confirm any connection with him and the group Veterans on Patrol," Littlejohn said.
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, group founder Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer denied having given any directions to attack weather equipment.
But he welcomed such acts in Oklahoma, insisting that radars and other meteorological equipment are part of a government conspiracy to manipulate weather. The claims of such a conspiracy are baseless.
"When we destroy and eliminate over 15 in a state of Oklahoma, your radar maps are going to change big time, and the weather is just going to be completely different over Oklahoma and the surrounding area," he said Thursday.
Government officials said they know about threats against weather equipment.
“NOAA is aware of recent threats against weather radar sites and is working with local and other authorities in monitoring the situation closely," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a statement.
Police detailed the radar allegations against Mitchell while he was in jail on an unrelated case involving allegations of vandalism and violations of an order of protection.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Mitchell has an attorney to speak on his behalf.
His father, mother and three brothers didn't immediately return messages seeking comment.
False conspiracy theories about weather have become increasingly visible online in recent years as extreme weather events continue to affect cities around the United States. In particular, baseless claims that the government is somehow manipulating or controlling the weather to create such events have gained significant traction, getting support from numerous Republican lawmakers.
Last year Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said "they can control the weather" after Hurricanes Milton and Helene, and on Saturday, she announced a bill that she said would prohibit weather control via the release of chemicals into the air.
At least one member of the Trump administration has seemingly nodded to such claims. On Thursday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that "Americans have legitimate questions about contrails and geoengineering, and they deserve straight answers” in a news release announcing a new website about weather manipulation and research on contrails, a natural phenomenon from aircraft and rockets.
