Blanchard man admits to ISIS-inspired terror plot against OU stadium, child pornography charges
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A 20-year-old Blanchard man is facing up to 45 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to plotting a terrorist attack inspired by ISIS and downloading child pornography, while living a double life, his family was seemingly unaware of.
Federal court documents unsealed this week, obtained by News 4, reveal disturbing details about the allegations against 20-year-old Landon Swinford, who admitted to federal authorities that he wanted to carry out an attack at the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in 2023.
According to the FBI’s newly-released affidavit, when Swinford wasn’t busy telling people online to “spice up your autumn with some cold-hearted Jihad” while scouting places to attack and make himself “a martyr for the cause of Allah” — he was downloading and watching child pornography, and going out of his way to keep the childhood bedroom he still lived in at his parents’ home clean of evidence, so he wouldn’t get grounded.
The affidavit says FBI investigators first began investigating Swinford in this all in May 2023, when Swinford connected online with an undercover FBI agent posing as a member of ISIS.
Swinford sent the undercover agent and other online users messages telling them he’d recently converted to Islam and hated America because:
- “I cannot go anywhere without seeing homosexuality,”
- “They [America] killed many Muslims and tried to end the Islamic State,”
- “They are making it where killing babies is okay,”
- “Men who pretend to be women are being allowed into women[s] restroom[s],”
- America does not follow Sharia Law.
He sent the undercover agent pictures of himself in front of an ISIS flag and a video of himself pledging his allegiance to ISIS while holding up a knife and burning an Israeli flag.
He later sent a written manifesto declaring, “I do not care if the world makes me a terrorist, I will cast terror for the sake of Allah.”
Court documents say Swinford asked the undercover agent to go with him overseas to train with ISIS.
He told the agent if that wouldn’t be possible, he wanted to “create a battlefield here,” adding, “If I can’t go to Syria for jihad, I’ll just go to Walmart.”
He brainstormed potential attacks, initially suggesting running over gay people with his car—until learning it would “only be big enough to run over six homosexuals” and “that would not be enough homosexuals.”
The FBI says he turned his focus toward OU’s football stadium after his grandparents took him to a game in September 2023, texting the undercover agent he “looked at the barricades and security and thought the stadium could be a potential target for an attack.”
The same stadium was the site of a bombing scare in 2005, when an OU student set off a bomb nearby during a crowded game, killing only himself.
After that, OU stepped up security, adding more cameras and requiring bag searches at entry gates.
In a statement Tuesday, an OU spokesperson told News 4:
We are aware of the recent federal court filings and take any potential threat to our community seriously. The safety and security of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors will always be our highest priority. OU has long implemented robust security protocols at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, including metal detectors, surveillance, trained personnel, and other layered safety measures. We are grateful for the work of law enforcement and continue to work closely with them to ensure the safety of our community.
Spokesperson for University of Oklahoma
Meanwhile, FBI investigators say Swinford ultimately set his targets on New Orleans, where he planned to bomb the “Voodoo Temple” on Mardi Gras in 2024, and later flee on a cargo ship to the Middle East—even planning to wire the undercover agent money as a down payment for the travel costs.
Throughout all this, Swinford worried about what would happen if his parents found out, saying he “believed he would get in trouble” with them.
The affidavit says he asked the undercover FBI agent if he could “just use cash instead of a debit card because” to send the down payment for travel expenses, because he “did not want his mother to see charges in his bank account.”
Investigators say Swinford told the undercover agent his mother “must have found” Islamic garb in his bedroom after she entered it in search of a Halloween costume for his younger brother.
The affidavit says he told investigators he would “lie to his parents and state the [garb items] were for a Halloween costume.”
Ultimately, Swinford told investigators his “parents confronted him after discovering the kufi in his room. Mr. Swinford said he initially lied to his parents and told them the [garb] was for a Halloween costume,” but “eventually told his parents he was in contact with someone he believed to be a member of ISIS [the undercover agent]. Mr. Swinford said his father asked Mr. Swinford to give his cellphone to him. Mr. Swinford said he gave the cellphone to his father willingly because he believed giving up the cellphone was the best way to get out of the situation. Mr. Swinford’s parents gave Mr. Swinford a new cellphone with a new number as a replacement to his original phone.”
It wasn’t over just yet.
In March 2024, investigators got a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Swinford’s IP address had been used to access child pornography.
Swinford later admitted everything to investigators.
When they asked if he really would’ve carried out an attack if he had the money, he told them, “Sadly, yes.”
Swinford pleaded guilty to two federal child pornography charges and a terroristic threat charge.
In total, he could get anywhere from 25 to 45 years in prison.
In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors will not ask the judge for the maximum sentence.