Man Arrested For Making Bomb Threat To Portland Police Precinct

KEY POINTS

The man claimed he had planted a bomb at one of the police precincts in the city
He allegedly used the Portland Police TrackIT system to send the message
The FBI is investigating the incident

A man from Seattle was arrested Wednesday for threatening to damage a police precinct in Portland, Oregon.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said the man, identified as 36-year-old Kyle Robert Tornow, allegedly used the Portland Police TrackIT system to send a message in which he claimed he had planted a bomb at one of the police precincts in the city.

"I am going to bomb a police precinct in Portland, OR. The bomb is already in place and has been packaged in a way that prevents detection from canine officers. Unless your officers disengage your war with the citizens of Portland I will blow up this precinct. You are weak. We are strong, many and fluid in nature. If I am caught, others will take my place and immediately detonate the bomb. This is a felony threat. Please take this seriously to avoid death," the message sent by the accused said, court documents showed.

The incident took place on July 24 "during a period of reoccurring civil disorder" in the city.

Authorities traced the email id to the accused and arrived at his home Wednesday. He was taken into custody after he admitted to making a bomb threat. He could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for threatening to damage or destroy a building. The FBI was investigating the incident.

The accused was previously arrested on harassment, theft of a motor vehicle and drug charges.

In a similar incident last month, a man from Washington D.C. was charged after he attempted to burn down a police precinct. Jerritt Jeremy Pace took to social media to express his intent to burn down a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) station. The 39-year-old man also encouraged his social media followers to do the same. He then "filled a plastic laundry detergent container with gasoline and a wick and ignited it in front of the Fourth District Station," a press release from the Department of Justice stated.

He was taken into custody and charged with "receiving an explosive in interstate commerce, using an instrumentality of interstate commerce to threaten the use of explosives, and attempted arson."