An Oklahoma man was arrested more than a week after a pipe bomb was thrown into a satanic temple in Salem, Mass., in a “terrorist attack.”
The explosive device was hurled onto the building’s porch around 4:14 a.m. April 8 in the town about 20 miles northeast of Boston, authorities said. No one was inside the building at the time and the damage was discovered later that day, though the device failed to fully detonate.
Surveillance footage showed the suspect in a black face covering, black pants, a black jacket, a tan tactical vest and gloves throwing a type of improvised explosive device, or “IED,” before running away.
The Salem Police Department worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation‘s Joint Terrorism Task Force on the investigation, officials said.
Sean Patrick Palmer, 49, of Perkins, Okla., was arrested Wednesday morning in that state. He was charged with using an explosive to cause damage to a building used in interstate or foreign commerce. He appeared in court in Oklahoma on Wednesday and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
The FBI determined the device was made from a piece of plastic pipe with metal nails and a substance identified as smokeless gunpowder.
A six-page letter left at the scene of the bombing made reference to a previous time the temple was vandalized with white spray paint. Prosecutors say Palmer frequently posts on social media “about religious matters and themes similar to those” in the missive.
A black Volvo sedan registered to Palmer was also allegedly recorded on surveillance cameras being driven erratically near the satanic ]temple before and after the bombing.
Palmer faces “a sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000,” the Justice Department said.
City officials applauded the quick resolution to the investigation.
“On behalf of the City of Salem, I want to express our profound gratitude for the exceptional work put into this investigation by the members of the Salem Police Department,” Mayor Dominick Pangallo said in a statement. “I hope the US Attorney’s office moves swiftly to see that justice is carried out. Salem is a welcoming place and violence intended to terrorize our city should be met with a decisive response from law enforcement, our judicial system, and our community.”
