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| (Photo: Buncombe County Detention Center) |
So, while conservatives in the GOP continue to scream that immigrants and people of religions other than christianity are the biggest threats to U.S. citizens, all of these white, christian men who inflict terrorism, like the Las Vegas shooter, and this guy, are ignored. WAKE UP voters. It's not the people from other countries who are the biggest threat. It's USA-born, white men who are out of their minds and hate everyone other than straight, white, christians. It's disturbing.
Here's the story:
Airport bomb suspect wanted 'to fight a war on US soil'
https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2017/10/10/bomb-airport-ammonium-nitrate-fuel-oil-mix-suspect-make-first-appearance/749394001/
The man authorities say left an explosive device at Asheville Regional Airport on Friday morning that contained ammonium nitrate and fuel oil said he was preparing to "fight a war on U.S. soil," according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court.
The suspect, Michael Christopher Estes,
had his first appearance in federal court Tuesday morning. He is
charged with attempted malicious use of explosive materials and unlawful
possession of explosive materials in an airport.
He
waived his right to a preliminary hearing, answering several of the
judges questions with a polite, "Yes, sir." Near the end of the
proceeding, Estes, bald and wearing a brown prison jumpsuit, smiled and
shook the hand of his attorney, Fredilyn Sison, an assistant federal
public defender.
The federal judge found that Estes
is indigent and assigned him an attorney for upcoming proceedings.
Sison said that would likely be her.
The criminal
complaint, filed by FBI agent James A. Anderson and read in court,
states that airport police officers found "what appeared to be an
improvised explosive device" early Friday morning outside the airport
terminal.
After
being taken into custody at the Asheville Police Department, Estes
waived his rights and agreed to answer questions, the complaint states.
Estes "admitted that he placed the explosive device at the Asheville
Airport," the complaint states. "He also explained that he bought the
precursor materials at Walmart and Lowe's" in Arden.
"Estes
claimed that he was getting ready to 'fight a war on U.S. soil,' but
also claimed that he did not actually set the alarm clock," the
complaint states.
The
complaint also states that, "Estes described how he created the device
using ammonium nitrate and the Sterno as a fuel source and then rigged
the alarm clock to strike the matches and cause the flame necessary to
trigger the device. Estes admitted to putting the nails in the device as
well."
On Friday, a TSA officer tested the
substance in the device and it was positive for ammonium nitrate, a
"widely used and regulated bulk industrial explosive," the complaint
states. A bomb dog approached the device and "signaled," indicating "the
presence of an explosive material.
"The device at
the airport consisted of a Mason type jar with a lid that was locked
down by an incorporated locking device," the complaint states. "There
were prills -- pellets or solid globules of a substance formed by the
congealing of a liquid during processing -- inside the jar and two
plastic cups containing an unknown liquid substance, believed to be the
fuel source," the complaint states. "There were pieces of cold compress
packs inside the jar."
Once ammonium nitrate forms into prills, it can absorb the fuel oil needed for an explosion, the complaint states.
"The
jar was filled with steel wool that was then wrapped around nails and
one shotgun cartridge," the complaint states, noting that it was a 410
gauge. "There was an alarm clock taped to the outside of the jar. There
was then a grouping of matches taped to the striker arm positioned
between the bells, and the bells were removed."
The clock was set to go off at 6:00.
Video
footage from the airport showed an individual walking onto airport
grounds at 12:39 a.m. on Oct. 6. He was wearing black clothing and a
black cap and carrying a bag.
"Based on a review of
the video, the individual walked near the entrance to the terminal,
went out of sight momentarily, and was then seen departing the area
without the bag," the complaint states.
An airport
maintenance worker said a man had come out of a wooded area across the
street and to the east of the airport. Investigators found a bag in the
woods with Gorilla Tape, consistent with the tape used in the device, as
well as Sterno Firestar Gel, believed to be the likely fuel source for
the explosive device, the complaint states.
There was also a bag containing shotgun shells.
Investigators
went to the Walmart store on Airport Road, where they learned a person
had bought Gorilla tape, Sterno Firestarter Gel, a glass Mason type jar,
matches, cold compress packs, and an alarm clock on Oct. 3. At the
Lowe's store off Airport Road, investigators learned a person had bought
Kobalt gloves that were "very similar to those observed in the tool bag
found in the wooded area."
The backpack bag found
in the woods apparently had been bought at REI in Biltmore Park, and the
buyer used a membership number assigned to Michael C. Estes. Estes
admitted that the bought the backpack at REI, the complaint states.
Officers
arrested Estes, 46, on Airport Road on Saturday, after several people
reported seeing him nearby. His last known address was in Asheville.
No one was injured in the Friday incident. The airport's Terminal Drive and part of a terminal were closed for about two hours.
In
the complaint, investigators noted that the type of device found at the
airport, called "AN/FO" explosives, has been used "in a number of
terrorist-related incidents around the world in the past.
"When
AN/FO comes into contact with a flame or other ignition source it
explodes violently," the complaint states. "Shrapnel or nails or ball
bearings are often items added to the device so as to increase the
devastation inflicted by the explosion."
Estes told investigators he "staged" in the woods near the airport a couple of days before placing the device at the airport.
