IED event in Pennsylvania, East Whiteland area, United States of America on Mon 16th June 2025

PHILADELPHIA — A Chester County man must serve 37 months in federal prison for the possession of one homemade explosive discovered at his home two days after his initial arrest for possessing a firearm without a concealed carry license near the historic courthouse where a No Kings rally was set to soon begin on June 14, 2025, in West Chester. 

On the day of the rally, Kevin Joseph Krebs, 32, was charged with firearms not to be carried without a license, a first-degree misdemeanor, after West Chester officers learned he was carrying a concealed handgun in the waist of his trousers about half a block from the site of the planned protest. Krebs was in possession of a fully loaded Sig Sauer .32-caliber semiautomatic handgun, three loaded Sig Sauer handgun magazines, six loaded assault rifle magazines, a rifle bayonet, pepper spray, a ski mask, and gloves, according to the arrest affidavit filed by police following his arrest. 

United States Attorney David Metcalf announced on Tuesday that Krebs was sentenced by the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to serve more than 3 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release. United States District Judge Mary Kay Costello issued the sentencing for possessing unregistered explosive devices. 

The federal case was investigated by the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, FBI Philadelphia’s Newtown Square Resident Agency, and the West Chester Police Department, with the assistance of the Montgomery County, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives bomb squads, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Everett Witherell and Frank Menna.

 Krebs was charged in December 2025 by the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on one count of possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device, and he pleaded guilty the same month. Pennsylvania’s case against Krebs remains pending. 

“The Chester County District Attorney’s Office is aware of yesterday’s sentencing in federal court regarding the defendant Kevin Krebs. Our office will carefully review the facts and circumstances, including the disposition of the federal case, before making a determination regarding the pending charges in Chester County. As that review is ongoing, we are ethically bound to refrain from commenting on the specifics of the case at this time,” said Dana Moore, director of communications for the DA’s office in West Chester, on Wednesday.

 “Once our review is complete and a determination has been made regarding county charges,” she said, “we will share that determination as appropriate.” 

As detailed in the court filings and statements, on June 14, 2025, Krebs was arrested by the West Chester Police Department for carrying a firearm without a license. West Chester Officer Adriana Zeiders, who was on patrol the day of the rally outside the historic courthouse, testified in the Court of Common Pleas last fall before Magisterial District Judge Marian Vito. She said that while at a corner of Gay and High streets, she was alerted by another officer that there was a report of a man in a yellow raincoat with what appeared to be a gun concealed under his coat. 

Zeiders noticed Krebs almost immediately, she told First Assistant District Attorney Erin O’Brien under direct examination. 

On June 16, 2025, Chester County Detectives executed a state search warrant at Krebs’s residence in East Whiteland and discovered what appeared to be an improvised explosive device, specifically a pipe bomb, known as an improvised explosive device, and related materials, in a garage attached to the premises. 

Bomb technicians responded, examined the device, and determined that it contained nails and screws, which are frequently placed inside IEDs to serve as shrapnel. As the search continued, investigators located multiple additional IEDs, other explosive materials and related components. 

In all, 13 IEDs were found, all taken into custody safely by the Montgomery County Bomb Disposal Unit. The recovered items yielded a total of six destructive devices and 10 improvised explosive detonators.

 Investigators also recovered eight one-pound orange plastic containers filled with suspected ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder, a binary explosive mixture that forms an ammonium nitrate and aluminum explosive when combined and is classified as a regulated explosive. 

Krebs lived with his brother, Alex Krebs, who told television news media at the time of the search of their Conestoga Road home on Route 401 that Krebs went to the protest armed after seeing violence at other protests that day.

 In his mind, “he’s scared, but I always tell him, ‘You are safe, always,’ ” Krebs’ brother told the news outlet. Krebs made national news as his arrest came on the same day that two Minnesota lawmakers were targeted by a gunman in their homes, with one killed alongside her husband. 

There have also been No Kings rallies held across the nation since 2025, including as recently as January and March.

 Last year, county District Attorney Chris deBarrena-Sarobe told reporters at a press conference that investigators had not been able to establish any political motive to Krebs’ actions. Those who knew him said he was nervous about going to the rally and wanted to be armed. Yet, when investigators from the West Chester police and Chester County Detectives went to the home he shared with his brother, they found a lot more.

 The search of the house on Conestoga Road uncovered a collection of improvised explosive devices, including a pipe bomb and other devices that had timers and electric matches that could set them off. Krebs was then charged again, this time with 13 counts of felony illegal possession of weapons of mass destruction, 13 counts of possession of an instrument of crime, causing a catastrophe, and recklessly endangering another person. 

According to deBarrena-Sarobe, besides the illegal IEDs that police found at the home, officers discovered another firearm. Other findings included a homemade silencer, a 3-D printer, and “what appears to be two 3-D printed machine gun conversion devices, sometimes called ‘switches’ or ‘selectors’ that could turn some of the rifles or handguns into fully automatic firearms.” 

Krebs’ still-pending state charges include 13 counts of weapons of mass destruction; 13 counts of possessing an instrument of crime; possession of firearms; carrying a concealed handgun without a license; causing a catastrophe; and recklessly endangering another person.