Jordan Derrick (known online as Dugan Ashley or from the YouTube channel CarniK Con), age 40, was charged in a federal criminal complaint on May 12 in the Western District of Missouri. Authorities charged him with engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license, unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device, and distributing information relating to the manufacture of explosives.
Derrick was a well-known figure in the firearms, reloading, and “guntuber” communities. He ran a channel called CarniK Con before leaving YouTube on March 27, 2015 (the CarniK Con channel was removed on September 7, 2017).
“Pulling the plug on CarniK Con, effective immediately,” Derrick wrote on Facebook. “Leaving Soc. Med. up, am available for hired work, [email removed]. May or may not upload the most recent video to YT at some point, but won’t be making new posts. This is probably the last one. #out”
CarniK Con is widely considered to be one of the first successful YouTube channels for gun content. He returned to YouTube a few years later, launching a podcast called Dark Light Dugan with co-hosts Dark Mavis and Light. He later left the podcast, and the YouTube channel continued with only the remaining host, Dark Mavis, before rebranding as DLD After Dark.
On September 18, 2023, he launched another YouTube channel and various other social media accounts, where he explained explosives and showed how to make them. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, these explosive materials included detonators, nickel aminoguanidine perchlorate (NAP), ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN), hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD), hexamine dinitrate (HDN), Research Department eXplosive (RDX), silver acetylide double salt (SADS), trinitroxylene (TNX or R-salt), trinitrotoluene (TNT), pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), aminoguanidine bicarbonate, and ammonium nitrate/nitromethane (ANNM).
One of the people who allegedly found his videos and used them to build explosives was Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar. Mr. Jabbar carried out an Islamist domestic terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, on New Year’s Day. Fortunately, the terrorist’s explosives did not detonate. Earlier this year, another explosion occurred at a private residence in Odessa, Missouri. The occupant of the residence told investigators that he used Derrick’s videos to make the explosives. That investigation is still ongoing.
The charges against Derrick have raised some eyebrows. He was charged with engaging in the business of manufacturing explosive materials without a license.
Commentators note that Derrick did not charge for any information on explosives. His social media platforms were not monetized, and he had no sponsors, leading many to wonder how he could be engaged in a “business” that involved no money. If convicted, this charge alone could send Derrick to federal prison for 10 years.
The second charge is unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device. The type of device has not been disclosed. This charge could also carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The final charge is the most troubling. Mr. Derrick was charged with distributing information relating to the manufacture of explosives under 18 U.S.C. § 842(p). This law prohibits teaching, demonstrating, or distributing information on how to make or use explosives, destructive devices, or weapons of mass destruction under two conditions:
- Intent: If the person distributing the information intends for it to be used to commit a federal crime of violence.
- Knowledge: If the distributor knows that the recipient intends to use the information to commit a federal crime of violence.
The government will have a hard time proving “intent.” Derrick’s videos were very scientific and never called for violence. He covered the chemistry of the explosives but did not discuss their use in committing crimes. It is also unlikely that Derrick had any knowledge of Jabbar’s planned attack. If convicted on this charge, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
The last charge also raises serious First Amendment concerns. These types of recipes have long been available in local libraries through books like The Anarchist Cookbook, which can still be purchased on Amazon or downloaded via the Kindle app. Some observers believe this charge could be a trumped-up allegation used to pressure Derrick into a plea agreement.
If Mr. Derrick is convicted on all charges, he might not survive prison. He suffers from multiple sclerosis (MS), and the government would force him to leave his wife and children to fend for themselves. Friends of Derrick have launched a GiveSendGo campaign to support his legal defense fund. At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $16,000 of its $30,000 goal.
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About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @right2bear, or at www.crumpy.com.
Wow, and to think that I had made T N T with my chemistry set back in the 7th grade — nearly sixty years ago! I made nitro when I was a senior in high school. You can walk into most any grocery store and for $35 you can walk out with the makings and tools to make enough stuff to level the store. Gun cotton, black powder and simple fireworks are also common knowledge. Most people have no clue what can be done with the stuff they have under the kitchen sink or in the laundry room or pool… Read more »
My high school chemistry teacher saw me with copies of The Poor Man’s James Bond vol 1, and The Anarchist Cookbook, He decided to steer my course to a less danger and legal issues and offered to teach me. We made small batches of different things and a lot of variations of black powder. We set them off either in the fume hood or out behind the school after hours. Experimented with contained verses open on a pan or dish. Was lots of fun and kept me out of trouble. These days the more I think about my youth the… Read more »
For some it is not the conviction that matters.
It is the punshishment by process that counts.
I suspect that this is one of those cases that is being prosecuted to achieve a political goal. It’s that last charge the-powers-that-shouldn’t-be are hoping to make stick, in my opinion. It’s another attempt to censor and regulate the Internet.
If the 13% can do drive by shootings and get away with it and not be charged, all he has to say is he is black and it’s racist to charge him
Sounds like someone in the government wants to make a name for themselves and get a pay raise.
Speaking of Explosives. Whenever there is a mass shooting, I think it is odd that the anti-gun groups go so hard at trying to eliminate guns. One person with a Gun is not actually very efficient at killing large numbers of people. It comes with its own alarm system. First few shots and people know there is a gun and have options to run, take cover, or fight back. However, with explosives or chemical bombs, it is instant mass deaths and injured. The deadliest school massacre was in the early 1900s with a bomb. Oklahoma city killed 168 people and… Read more »
The link to the law you posted only goes up to section (k). This one goes all the way and includes the sections you correctly cite.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/842