An Oklahoma man was arrested after a pipe bomb was thrown last week at the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts.
The explosive device was thrown onto the temple's porch in the early morning hours of April 8. No one was inside at the time. Staff found the device and the damage it caused hours later.
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The office of acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy of Massachusetts said 49-year-old Sean Patrick Palmer of Perkins, Oklahoma, was arrested Wednesday morning in that state. He is facing charges of using an explosive to cause damage to a building used in interstate or foreign commerce.
Surveillance footage from about 4:14 a.m. on April 8 shows a man in a black face covering, black pants, a black jacket, a tan tactical vest and gloves is seen igniting an improvised explosive device and throwing it at the temple's entrance before running away, federal prosecutors said.
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The Salem Police Department worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Joint Terrorism Task Force in the wake of the incident.
The FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, tested the bomb, which authorities say was made from a piece of plastic pipe with metal nails and a substance identified as smokeless gunpowder. A single human hair was found, which tests determined contained DNA from a white male. A dark-colored dog hair was also found.
Authorities said a six-page, handwritten note was found in a flower bed near the spot where the bomb was found. It contains the following passage:
- DEAR SATANIST
ELOHIM SEND ME 7 MONTHS AGO TO GIVE YOU
PEACEFUL MESSAGE TO HOPE YOU REPENT. YOU SAY
NO, ELOHIM NOW SEND ME TO SMITE SATAN AND I
HAPPY TO OBEY. AND ELOHIM WANT ME TO CONTACT
YOU TO TELL YOU REPENT. TURN FROM SIN. ELOHIM
NO LIKE THIS PLACE AND PLAN TO DESTROY IT. MAYBE
SALEM TOO? ELOHIM SEND ME TO FIGHT CRYBABY
SATAN, BUT WANT ME TO MAKE HARD EFFORT SO NO
ONE DIES. I OBEY.
About seven months earlier, in September, authorities say the temple was vandalized with white spray paint referencing Bible verses.
In a search warrant affidavit, the FBI said that the incident was not publicized, adding that "there is probable cause to believe, therefore, that the person responsible for the April 8th IED incident is the same person responsible for vandalizing TST with spray paint in September 2023."
Federal prosecutors say Palmer often posts on social media "about religious matters and themes similar to those" in the note. His black Volvo sedan was allegedly seen in surveillance footage driving erratically in the area of the temple before and after the incident.
Photos on Facebook indicate that Palmer owns at least one dog with dark hair like the one found on the bomb, and another photo showed him wearing a similar tan tactical vest to the one seen in surveillance footage last week, according to the FBI.
The FBI believes Palmer bought the PVC pipe used in the bomb from a home improvement store in Oklahoma, Levy's office said.
"I think this person was very motivated to cause a good amount of damage and destruction and didn't care if people got killed or harmed along the way," Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the temple, told NBC10 Boston Wednesday. "Especially when it's some random person who think they know something about us when clearly they don't, just based on ignorance, we do have to fear that ignorance is still present among a population of people."
If he is convicted, prosecutors say Palmer faces five to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could answer to the charges against him.
"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."
"I also hope this makes clear once again, that if you target the people of Salem for violence we, and our friends in the FBI, will find you," Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller said in a statement.
