Man accused of throwing Molotov cocktail at Army tank in Florida

Florida officials charged a Minnesota man with attempted arson of federal property and possession of a Molotov cocktail by a convicted felon.
On February 14, Trang Johnny Nha Phan, 25, attempted to set fire using a Molotov cocktail to a M-60 A-3 tank owned by the U.S. Army, according to a press release Tuesday from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Middle District of Florida.
The release didn't state where the alleged arson took place, other to say it happened within the Florida district.
A report from WWSB ABC7 in Sarasota, however, said Phan's arrest came after the Molotov cocktail was thrown at a memorial tank on display outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post. The quartermaster for the post told ABC7 that he witnessed the accused throw the incendiary device at the tank, but the bottle did not break and it rolled away from the tank without causing any damage.
At the time, Phan had been convicted for threats of violence and possessing three grams or more of heroin, prosecutors say.
Court records show Phan had been held in the Sarasota County Jail and pleaded not guilty to the charges in Tampa federal court on May 16. A trial is set for the week of July 7.
If convicted, he faces a minimum of 35 years and up to 65 years in federal prison.
Federal officials have also notified Phan they intend to seize assets that are traceable to the offense.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative using resources from the Department of Justice to 'repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.'

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

USA Today

5 hours ago

• USA Today

2 dead, 16 injured after shootings at Juneteenth celebrations in South Carolina, Oklahoma

Two people were killed and at least 16 others were injured after gun violence erupted in South Carolina and Oklahoma during Juneteenth celebrations, authorities said. Police in Anderson County, South Carolina, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, are investigating two separate shootings that occurred on the night of June 21 as hundreds of people gathered for Juneteenth events. Juneteenth is a federal holiday celebrated annually on June 19, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War. One woman was killed and nine others were wounded during a shooting near a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Anderson County, the county sheriff's office said in a statement on social media. A large crowd had gathered in the area for the county's sixth annual Juneteenth celebration. Gunfire also broke out at the 2025 Tulsa Juneteenth Festival, according to the Tulsa Police Department. A 22-year-old man was killed in the shooting, and seven others were injured. No arrests have been reported in either of the shootings as of June 22, authorities said. Both incidents remain under active investigation. Minnesota lawmakers attacked: Minnesota shooting victims John, Yvette Hoffman detail 'horrific night' Police: Argument escalated into the shooting in South Carolina In an update on June 22, the Anderson County Sheriff's Office said detectives were continuing an extensive investigation into the shooting and have "pinpointed persons of interest." The sheriff's office said a large crowd gathered along Scarborough Road in Anderson County, located near the Georgia border, about 36 miles southwest of Greenville, South Carolina. The crowd was in the area throughout the day on June 21, where "it remained a peaceful event to celebrate Juneteenth," according to the sheriff's office. "However, as more people arrived, an argument ensued in the parking lot and multiple shots were fired with people scrambling throughout the area," the sheriff's office said in a statement on social media. Law enforcement responded to a report of multiple people shot on Scarborough Road at around 10 p.m. local time, according to Greenville News, part of the USA TODAY Network. More than 100 emergency personnel arrived to find a chaotic scene as hundreds of people fled from the scene, leaving behind shoes and debris in the roadway, the sheriff's office said. Several people transported themselves to nearby hospitals, according to the sheriff's office, while one person was found dead at the scene "with debris and clothing scattered across the area." The victim was identified as Laporshia Janae Gray Cobb, 35, from Anderson, Greenville News reported. She died as a result of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and the case has been ruled a homicide, according to Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore. Detectives were at the scene on June 22 to canvass and interview witnesses, the sheriff's office said. The agency has asked the public to contact the Anderson Area Crime Stoppers to provide any information related to the incident. The sheriff's office noted that while the shooting occurred "outside within feet" of a Veterans of Foreign Wars post, the post does not have any affiliation with the Juneteenth event. Tulsa police believe at least 2 suspects were involved in the shooting Officers were working at the Tulsa Juneteenth Festival when they heard gunshots at around 11 p.m. local time on June 21, according to the Tulsa Police Department. Police described the event as busy, adding that "chaos erupted as people began running in multiple directions." The festival took place in the city's Greenwood District, a historic freedom colony once known as "Black Wall Street" before it was destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The neighborhood is now part of the Oklahoma State University–Tulsa campus and is located just north of downtown Tulsa. As officers attempted to regain control of the area, police said a 22-year-old man was struck and killed under an overpass. Seven other people, including a 17-year-old and an elderly woman, were also hit by gunfire, police added. The seven victims were transported to local hospitals for treatment. As of June 22, at least one person — identified as a 24-year-old man — was in critical condition, according to police. Police said officers cleared the Greenwood area as many people fled into other parts of downtown Tulsa and caused disturbances in the city's historic Blue Dome District. Numerous bars in the area exceeded capacity and requested assistance from police to manage overflow. Responding officers and the Tulsa Fire Department "were able to stabilize the downtown area," police said. Police noted that the crime scene extended over several blocks, and the entire Greenwood neighborhood was closed from the I-244 overpass to John Hope Franklin Boulevard. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was also called in to assist local police with the investigation. "Several individuals we interviewed were unwilling to provide much information about the shooters, and others were unsure where the shots had originated," police said in a statement on social media. "At this time, we believe there were at least two different shooters, and it remains unclear who the intended targets were." 'This pattern of violence must be stopped' The shooting at the Tulsa Juneteenth Festival occurred amid a "weekend of shootings at three other locations with numerous victims," police said. In response to the recent spate of violence, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols said he directed the city's police chief and public safety team to "intensify their efforts downtown and across the city." Nichols added that local officials are investing in long-term strategies, such as youth outreach and community-based violence intervention, to "address the root causes of violence." "These events are showing a pattern of brazen lawlessness by individuals who don't respect the lives of others or the authority of those tasked to keep people safe," Nichols said in a statement on June 22. "This pattern of violence must be stopped as this city belongs to all of us, and we are strongest when we protect one another. We cannot and will not normalize this kind of harm in our community." The organizers of the festival acknowledged the incident in a statement, saying they are "actively cooperating" with the Tulsa Police Department and other law enforcement agencies as the investigation continues. "We have been made aware of a shooting that occurred this evening during the Tulsa Juneteenth Festival. Our on-site security and medical teams responded immediately, and we remain in close communication with the first responders," the organizers said. "Out of respect for those impacted, all programming is currently canceled. Please keep our community in your prayers." Report: Guns remain leading cause of death for children and teens in the US Contributing: Jose Franco, Greenville News

Boston Globe

10 hours ago

• Boston Globe

11 days in June: Trump's path to ‘yes' on bombing Iran

Here's a look at how the last 11 days unfolded, a cascade of events that could reshape a combustible corner of the globe. All dates below are in Eastern time. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Wednesday, June 11 Advertisement The first sign that conflict could be on the horizon came when families of U.S. troops began leaving the Middle East. 'They are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place, and we'll see what happens,' Trump said as he arrived at the Kennedy Center for opening night of 'Les Misérables,' one of his favorite musicals. It wasn't clear whether Israel was preparing to strike, fulfilling years of threats to attack Iran's nuclear program, or if the movements were a feint to increase pressure for negotiations. The next round of talks between Washington and Tehran was just days away, and Trump was adamant about reaching a diplomatic solution. Advertisement Behind the scenes, the Israeli military operation was already taking shape. Thursday, June 12 Trump said an attack by Israel 'could very well happen.' But Iran still seemed to be taken by surprise. Around 8 p.m. in Washington, explosions in Tehran killed top military leaders and scientists. Multiple sites connected to Iran's nuclear program were also hit. Israel said 200 warplanes took part in the first wave of attacks. More damage was done with drones that Israeli spies had smuggled into the country, destroying air defenses and missile launchers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a 'targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival.' Although Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program was for peaceful purposes, Israeli leaders claimed it was an imminent threat. Trump posted on social media that Friday, June 13 Iran retaliated against Israel with missiles and drones, many of which were shot down by air defenses. As Trump started his day in Washington, he seemed impressed by Israeli military prowess and his tone became more aggressive toward Iran. 'The United States makes the best and most lethal military equipment anywhere in the World, BY FAR, and that Israel has a lot of it, with much more to come - And they know how to use it,' he But Trump suggested that diplomacy was his first choice, and urged Iran to make a deal. Saturday, June 14 Trump talked to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the morning, and they discussed the conflict between Israel and Iran. The next round of talks between the U.S. and Iran was canceled. Advertisement As Israel and Iran continued to trade strikes, Trump attended a military parade in Washington. It was the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, as well as his 79th birthday. The muscular display of American military might — tanks, troops, paratroopers and a 21-gun salute — played out in the nation's capital as the potential for a new conflict loomed. Sunday, June 15 Trump spent the day talking up his reputation as a peacemaker, encouraging Iran and Israel to 'make a deal' similar to how he had brokered an end to fighting between India and Pakistan. 'Many calls and meetings now taking place,' Iran's health ministry said 224 people had been killed by Israeli strikes at this point in the conflict. Reports also emerged that Trump had rejected an Israeli plan to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. U.S. officials viewed the idea as dangerously destabilizing. Trump flew to Canada for the annual Group of Seven summit, which gathers the world's most powerful democracies. He would not be there long. Monday, June 16 Israel claimed it had achieved 'aerial superiority' over Tehran, allowing its warplanes to operate freely in the skies above Iran's capital. One of the strikes hit Iran's state-run television, abruptly stopping a live broadcast. Netanyahu said Israeli strikes set back Iran's nuclear program a 'very, very long time.' However, the extent of the damage was unclear, and U.S. and Israeli officials believed only American planes with specially designed 'bunker buster' bombs had the capability to destroy nuclear sites buried deep underground. Advertisement After a single day at the G7 summit, the White House abruptly announced that Trump would leave early on a red-eye flight to Washington to meet with his national security team. Tuesday, June 17 Trump demanded Iran's 'UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER' in a post on social media and he told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wanted 'a real end' to the conflict, not just a ceasefire. He expressed frustration with Iranian leaders for failing to reach an agreement. 'They should have done the deal. I told them, 'Do the deal,'' he said. 'So I don't know. I'm not too much in the mood to negotiate.' Trump also brushed off assessments from U.S. spy agencies that Iran hadn't decided to build a nuclear weapon. He insisted they were 'very close.' The sun had not yet risen when Trump arrived at the White House. He took part in a meeting in the Situation Room, but did not appear publicly. With little clarity on next steps, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters that 'I'm here to take questions, not necessarily answer them.' Wednesday, June 18 By this point, there was no question that Trump was considering joining Israel's attacks on Iran. 'I may do it, I may not do it,' he said that morning. 'Nobody knows what I'm going to do.' The president spoke to reporters while overseeing the installation of a massive new flagpole on the South Lawn of the White House, toggling back and forth between chatting up construction workers in hard hats and sizing up the Iranian nuclear threat. Later, in the Oval Office, Trump again suggested that the U.S. might get directly involved to thwart Iran's atomic ambitions. 'I'm not looking to fight,' he said. 'But if it's a choice between fighting and having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do.' Advertisement On Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the Pentagon was presenting Trump with military options. Thursday, June 19 It was a federal holiday — Juneteenth — and much of Washington took the hot, steamy day off, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt scheduled a briefing nonetheless. She entered the briefing room to deliver a message from the president: He would decide within two weeks whether to become directly involved in Israel's war on Iran. Trump has long been known to toss out 'two week' deadlines for actions that never materialize, so the statement left people guessing on his next move. Friday, June 20 Trump convened another meeting of his national security advisers and then flew to his golf club in New Jersey, where he attended a political fundraiser in the evening. He talked to reporters briefly en route, long enough to say his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was 'wrong' when she previously said that the U.S. believed Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon. Saturday, June 21 Around midnight, the U.S. military operation began in secret: B-2 stealth bombers taking off from a base in Missouri. They headed east, over the Atlantic Ocean, refueling from airborne tankers along the way. It would take them 18 hours to reach Iran. A decoy flight went west, toward the Pacific. Trump returned to the White House from New Jersey around 6 p.m. Less than an hour later, American ordinance began exploding in Tehran. More than two dozen Tomahawk missiles were fired from a U.S. submarine. Fighter jets scanned for Iranian interceptors. The stealth bombers dropped 14 bunker buster bombs, marking the first time that the 30,000-pound weapon had been used in combat. Advertisement Trump announced the strikes on social media, saying it was a 'very successful attack and 'NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!' In a brief national address from the White House, the president threatened to attack Iran again if there was any retaliation. 'There will either be peace or there will be tragedy for Iran,' he said.

Time​ Magazine

13 hours ago

• Time​ Magazine

How U.S. Strikes May Have Helped the Iranian Regime

Governments are not nations, especially in the Islamic Republic of Iran, but governments wage the wars that can define a nation. Until 2:00 a.m. Iran Standard Time on Sunday, the conflict between America and Iran had remained on a low boil for a solid 45 years, flaring into actual military encounters only on the territory of others, notably Iraq. There, every sixth U.S. fatality perished by the efforts of Iran. President Donald Trump alluded to this history in announcing the U.S. air strikes on three nuclear facilities inside Iran—bringing the conflict to a regime that, even when it attacked the U.S., invariably arranged for someone else to do it. In Iraq, the U.S. was an army of occupation, and its soldiers obliged to patrol the roads. They did so in Humvees heavily armored against the roadside bombs insurgents planted along the route. Iran, which wanted U.S. troops off its doorstep, organized its own insurgents, and gave them a new kind of roadside bomb, a shaped charge that could send a slug of copper through any armor, including an M1 Abrams tank. The soldiers who survived often lost limbs. The U.S. Army history of the Iraq War takes note of the U.S. unit intercepting crates of the copper plates fitted atop the explosive: 'All were turned on the same lathe in Iran.' Israeli officials had been warning the Americans about those bombs. Their own troops had encountered them while occupying Lebanon, where the diabolically lethal innovations had been planted by Hezbollah, the militia Iran helped establish and subsequently armed. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Tehran directed them to be used against an enemy it had been fighting, in one way or another, since 1979. Read More: Iran Delivers Furious Warning, Speaks of 'Unprecedented Level of Danger and Chaos' After 'Heinous' U.S. Strikes That was the year everyday Iranians rose up against the King (or Shah) who had been put in place a quarter century earlier by the U.S. and British, in a CIA-directed coup bringing down a democratically-elected government (one that had kicked a British oil company out of the country). A half century later, Iranian citizens could be relied upon to bring up the coup to American reporters doing in-person interviews on Tehran streets decorated with wartime propaganda. The entire side of a tall building in Tehran shows the American flag with the stars replaced by skulls and the stripes formed by descending bombs. The mural, which had faded over the decades, was redone with fresh paint a few months ago. The famous 'Death to America' slogan is still on the wall of the park-like compound that once held the U.S. Embassy. The place was officially dubbed 'the Den of Spies' when it was overrun by supporters of the regime that replaced the Shah—a revolutionary movement led by a charismatic Shi'ite cleric named Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. (TIME's Person of the Year in 1979 is not to be confused with his similarly named successor, 86-year-old Ali Khamenei, who finally has reportedly nominated his own candidates as successor.) The former embassy is now a museum and, as TripAdvisor makes clear, an effective one. When Iranians were coming over the gates, American diplomats and spies scrambled to feed secrets into paper shredders, reducing their secret documents to strips of paper maybe an eighth-of-an-inch wide. The zeal of the 1979 revolution is still visible on the tables of the Den of Spies, in the papers true believers re-assembled strand-by-strand. Over 50 U.S. diplomats remained in the embassy as hostages for 444 days. The humiliation the nascent Islamic Republic of Iran inflicted on the United States may have been on par with the humiliation the regime is experiencing now. The hitch, for both the U.S. and Israel, is that bringing the attack to Iran, as a country, risks stirring the nationalist response of a nation that goes back 2,500 years. Most Iranians loathe their government, and may have looked on with a certain interest on June 13, when the Israeli warplanes and drones descended, both from abroad and from a base Mossad set up near Tehran. (A joke making the rounds in Tehran had one of Iran's retaliatory strikes hitting the headquarters of Mossad, but it was empty: All the agents were inside Iran.) At the time its secret nuclear program was revealed in 2002, people still held out hope that they could alter their government at the ballot box. But the political reform movement failed, and the stiffening, increasingly unpopular regime understood that it could no longer count on its population. Instead, it placed its hopes for survival in thugs beating protesters in the streets, and acquiring a nuclear weapon. A large majority of Iranians have no love for the regime. In small towns and cities alike, they have been rising up against their oppressive government at irregular intervals, for decades. But any kind of bomb is terrifying, and after the first night of attacks, Israel's warplanes moved beyond military targets and assassinations. An oil refinery was bombed. The casualties of a strike on Tajrish Square, a bustling bazaar in Tehran's north, included a water main and a well-known graphic designer, who was waiting at a red light. The specter of Gaza now looms over every Israeli military operation. After Iran's retaliatory missiles claimed Israeli lives, Israel's defense minister threatened that 'Tehran will burn.' Inside Iran, opposing the government does not extend to supporting attacks by foreign militaries. A group of human rights, civil society, and political activists who, as they put it, 'have always been critical and opposed to the current wrong way of governing,' posted a statement on Telegram saying: 'At this critical juncture in our country's history, when we are confronted with the aggression and arrogance of the racist Israeli government, which has a long history of warmongering, genocide and breaking the fundamental principles of morality and international law, we firmly condemn this attack. We emphasize our serious opposition to any foreign interference. We consider it to be detrimental to the human rights and democracy-seeking efforts of Iranian civil society, and we stand united and steadfast in defending the territorial integrity, independence, national defense capability of our homeland, defending the lives and dignity of human beings, and peace in the region and the world.' Dread swelled in the neighborhoods around the Tehran atomic research reactor, with the distribution of iodide potassium pills to protect the thyroid against radiation in the air. Experts say the risk of radiation exposure is fairly small around the atomic facilities that the U.S. and Israel have bombed to date, because the ones in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan all deal with enriching uranium, rather than sparking nuclear reactions. But though small, the Tehran reactor (set up by the U.S. in 1967, when the Shah still ruled), operates as Chernobyl or Three Mile Island once did, and in the center of a city of more than nine million people. Those living closest to the reactor were told the pills should be taken by those over the age of 60 and under 40, but only when instructed by state TV, which Israel has also bombed. Read More: A New Middle East Is Unfolding Before Our EyesSo, where do things go from here? To a large extent, that depends on the actions of an Iranian regime that was already unpopular at the start of this assault. But any government bringing its own military inside Iran's borders should understand the nature of the country. Among Iranians, opposition to the government is grounded in a bedrock pride in their nation, which predates not only the Islamic Republic, but Islam itself. Some on the Iranian plateau still practice Zoroastrianism, the world's first monotheistic faith, and the foundation for an ancient empire that still informs Iranians' sense of themselves. That identity can be glimpsed in first names like Darius and Cyrus—the names of Persian emperors—and actually visible in the ruins of Persepolis. There, in the friezes depicting supplicants from nations lining up to pay fealty to the ruler of an ancient empire, some Iranians find themselves seeing the nuclear program exactly as the modern regime has cast it—as the 'inalienable right' of any signatory to Non Proliferation Treaty to pursue a nuclear program, so long as it's in Tehran, there was evidence the regime was gaining ground with a public it had largely lost. In a private chat, a university professor told a friend: "Even if Khamenei had packed up the whole nuclear program, Israel would have attacked. Their whole plan was to weaken Iran's military."