Tennessee man says he conspired with Jan. 6 defendant to kill FBI agents

Austin Carter said that he plotted with Edward Kelley, who is awaiting trial on Jan. 6 charges, to kill as many as 37 people. Kelley has pleaded not guilty to murder conspiracy charges.

An associate of a Jan. 6 defendant pleaded guilty this week to charges that the two men plotted “to murder employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

Austin Carter, who was a 26-year-old security officer and a member of the Army Reserves at the time of his arrest in December 2022, admitted in a plea agreement that he “unlawfully and knowingly combined, conspired, and agreed with his co-defendant,” Edward Kelley, to kill FBI personnel.

Carter admitted that he provided a cooperating witness “with a list of FBI employees that CARTER received from KELLEY” on or about Dec. 13, 2022, and that Carter instructed the cooperating witness “to memorize the FBI employees identified on the list and then burn the list.” Kelley and Carter “discussed plans to attack the FBI Field Office in Knoxville, Tennessee” and that the purpose of the conspiracy was “to retaliate against government conduct,” Carter admitted.

A court filing from December said that the list Kelley provided included about 37 names of law enforcement personnel who worked on Kelley’s Jan. 6 case, and identified which officers were present when Kelley was arrested.