An FBI SWAT team executed a search warrant on Wednesday, and made one arrest connected with the case, reports the New York Criminal Lawyer. The arrest is a result of the so-called isolated event that occurred on Martin Luther King Day that involved a backpack that was reportedly filled with enough explosives to cause lethal damage to bystanders.
Arrested is a 36-year old, ex-soldier that allegedly has ties to a white-supremacist group. This is reportedly the same group that was founded by the author of “The Turner Diaries,” that was the focus of setting the guidelines for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. It is thus far unclear as to whether he is the only person of interest in this case.
The suspect has already been arraigned in U.S Federal Court, which he has waived his hearing for bail. The suspect could face life in prison if convicted of several felony offenses including of the attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. A separate charge of possession of an unregistered explosive device could net the suspect another maximum sentence of 10-years in prison if convicted. His next scheduled court appearance is set for March 23.
The Suffolk County Criminal Lawyer has heard much discussion, thus far, as to whether this should be classed as a hate crime. In simple words, a hate crime is considered by most states as any crime that involves “threats, harassment, or physical harm and is motivated by prejudice against someone’s race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, sexual orientation or physical or mental disability.” The facts of this particular crime fit many of these definitions, as the explosive device was planted along a parade route that was to be primarily frequented by persons of a certain race, color, or national origin, and sought to cause threats, and/or physical harm to those persons.
The homemade bomb that was found on MLK Day was no makeshift device, as the explosives were laced with rat poison, which serves as an anti-coagulant. These were all factors prompted officials to pursue this case as one of domestic terrorism.
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