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Images of James Morgan’s social media posts (U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Wisconsin).
A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty to possessing several components that can be made into chemical weapons just months after being sentenced for having destructive devices.
James Morgan, 31, entered his plea in the Eastern District of Wisconsin after facing federal charges of possession of chemical weapon precursors not intended for peaceful purposes. In a press release, acting U.S. District Attorney Richard G. Frohling announced the plea deal, which carries a sentence up to life in prison among other penalties. Morgan admitted to keeping a cache of chemicals and other paraphernalia in a storage unit that was searched by the FBI in December 2023 after they obtained a warrant.
What they found was, by Morgan’s own admission, “scary.”
In the plea agreement, Morgan, who also used the online moniker “Karactus Blome,” admitted to possessing what are called chemical weapon precursors, which can be combined to make dangerous chemical weapons. In this case, FBI agents found bottles of calcium hypochlorite and hydrochloric acid, which can be combined to form chlorine gas.
Morgan, according to court documents, maintained a presence on various social media accounts in which he demonstrated his prowess and passion for chemistry — as well as his anti-government beliefs. In messages cited in the court documents, Morgan said, “[E]ven which no MG42 [machine gun] right now, what I have is scary. And I don’t mean just guns.”
He added, “I have two chemicals, totally legal, calcium hypochlorite and hydrochloric acid which when reacted together, produce a lot of chlorine gas very quickly. Just some classic WWI. Still can be effective if your enemy isn’t ready for it.”
In May 2023, Morgan discussed his purported “enemy” with his girlfriend in text messages that stated if 20 government agents were “coming for the guns,” he would “defeat them without firing a single shot.”
The FBI Laboratory concluded that the amount of chemicals Morgan had could have resulted in “serious, long-lasting health effects, an impaired ability to escape, and even death.”
This latest plea was not Morgan’s first case involving the federal government. In December 2024, he was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possessing destructive devices; this was filed in the Western District of Wisconsin. That case found that Morgan was not only working on chemical weapons, but devices such as a flamethrower and a “device that shoots sulfuric acid.”
Morgan is scheduled to be sentenced for the chemical weapons precursors on Aug. 1.
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