The Trace

07/01/2025

By November 3, 2020, the day of the presidential election, 44-year-old Ian Rogers had been preparing for the implosion of American civilization for so long that it seemed like a foregone conclusion. He could see the coded signals, the power-grabbing, and he was confident it would all culminate in the Democratic Party stealing the White House for Joe Biden and establishing a police state. Rogers, who had spent most of his life in California’s wine country, where he owned a car repair shop, expected to lose cherished freedoms — in particular, gun rights. A feeling of profound, imminent loss had settled over him. If armed resistance became necessary, Rogers considered himself a man of action. When the election results came in, he decided it was time to move.

Between November 25, 2020, some two weeks after most news organizations declared a Democratic victory, and January 13, 2021, court records show Rogers initiated a series of domestic terrorism planning sessions with his best friend, 37-year-old Jarrod Copeland. Over text message, they discussed how to carry out an attack against institutions they saw as liberal. Among the targets discussed were Twitter and Facebook, both of which had recently banned Donald Trump; the California governor’s mansion, inhabited by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom; and the Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento.

“Ok bro we need to hit the enemy in the mouth,” Rogers said in November. “I think right now we attack democrats.” He added, “I’m thinking full auto fire with fire will send the message we want.” Two days later, Rogers sent Copeland a map that showed the location of the state Democratic Party’s headquarters, a low-slung building with rooftop solar panels and charging stations for electrical vehicles. “150 rounds shot into [the] building will destroy it,” Rogers said. “And a couple pipe bombs.” He wanted to “send a fucking message man” and “scare the whole country” and “leave [an] envelope with our demands and intentions” that would effectively state “we declare war on the Democratic Party and all traitors to the republic.”

Rogers and Copeland moved on to logistics. “After work tomorrow I’ll …do some recon,” Rogers said. “I’ll scope things out take pictures.” Copeland told him, “If they don’t listen to trump they will hear us,” and in January texted, “we will become outlaws for real.”

Copeland, who had joined the military in 2013, only to be arrested twice for desertion before receiving an “Other than Honorable” discharge in 2016, purchased a 10-pack of zip-tie handcuffs. The two men discussed the necessity of “guerilla warfare,” “surgical strikes,” and “civil war.” Rogers declared them “freedom fighters.”

As January 2021 progressed, the conversation turned fatalistic. Rogers asked, “Are you ready to leave your wife? What I’m talking about we probably will die unfortunately.” Copeland had reservations about that aspect of the plan, but said, “She has finally come around to understanding.”

Ian Rogers owned some 50 firearms, including 13 different types of semiautomatic 1911 handguns, and multiple assault rifles, such as two AR-15s. There were also four illegal automatic weapons: a bipod-mounted, belt-fed, open-bolt MG-42 machine gun; an AK-47 with an under-fold stock; an AK-47 with a side-fold stock; and an M-16. He had stockpiled 15,000 rounds of ammunition and five fully assembled, illegal pipe bombs. Among his weapons were manuals: “The Anarchist Cookbook,” the “U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook,” “Homemade C-4: A Recipe for Survival,” and the “U.S. Army Special Forces Guide to Unconventional Warfare.”

Rogers had a stash of steroids, and a Three Percenters militia sticker on his vehicle. He kept a “White Privilege Card” that said “Trumps Everything” and contained the numbers “0045,” an apparent reference to the 45th president of the United States.

Before Rogers and Copeland could carry out their violent plans, police followed through on a tip and arrested Rogers on January 15, 2021. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and illegal weapons possession and received a nine-year prison sentence. Copeland admitted to his role as co-conspirator and received a sentence half as long.