This smells like a stinking psyop is what this smells like. Sorry.
"Haverhill man accused of detonating bomb near city park" by Evan Allen and John R. Ellement | Globe Staff September 05, 2014
HAVERHILL — Matthew Madden, who once told police he “liked to blow things up,’’ allegedly filled a Molotov cocktail with nails, pellets, and ball bearings this week and tried to detonate it in a city building where the fire alarm system was disabled, officials said Friday.
But the homemade bomb allegedly planted Tuesday in the public bathrooms at Haverhill Stadium apparently misfired, causing a blaze that Haverhill firefighters quickly extinguished, officials said.
“This could have been a very serious matter had this bomb gone off,’’ said Mayor James J. Fiorentini Friday in Haverhill District Court, where Madden appeared before a judge to face charges of arson and illegal possession of an incendiary device. “Anybody could have been seriously hurt or killed. There’s a playground right within 100 yards of this where young children play, and it’s a place for handicapped children.’’
Madden, 20, was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing set for Sept. 18 by District Judge Stephen Abany. Law enforcement officials said Madden has no apparent connections to terrorism.
Essex Assistant District Attorney John DePaulo said Madden’s alleged motive was not clear, but that three years ago, after being arrested on suspicion of stealing his father’s guns and selling them on the street, Madden told police he took the black powder from his father’s ammunition because he likes to blow things up.
When police searched his home, prosecutors say, they found bombmaking materials.
Abany revoked Madden’s bail in another open case against him, in which Madden is charged with assault and battery and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon for allegedly joining friends in May in attacking a man, beating him, and swinging a bat at him.
Madden’s lawyer, Joseph Gannon, said in court that a witness who placed Madden at the scene could not pick him out of a photo array. He declined to comment further outside of court.
In court, DePaulo summarized the evidence that led Haverhill Police, the FBI, and agents of the Department of Homeland Security to search Madden’s home, where they found nails, pellets, and ball bearings that allegedly matched the Molotov cocktail, among other alleged bomb-construction materials.
On Tuesday, he said, a city employee was walking for exercise at the stadium about 7:30 a.m. when he noticed a man in his early 20s, who generally matched Madden’s description, acting suspiciously, picking up a glass bottle and walking away.
Ever consider that they might just be a poor person trying to help the economy? That is now suspicious?
The worker took down the man’s license plate number and then continued to exercise, DePaulo said. A short time later, the worker noticed that the bathroom facility near where he had spotted the man was burning.
After extinguishing the fire, firefighters and police discovered the remains of the Molotov cocktail and the shrapnel inside it, DePaulo said. The license plate came back as belonging to Madden’s father.
Police also saw a man and woman at the fire scene, DePaulo said. Police initially thought they had no tie to the incident, but later learned that they were friends of Madden’s. When the two people were interviewed again, DePaulo said, they said they had seen Madden “trying to light something” in the stadium.
Authorities said the two are witnesses, not suspects, and have not been charged.
In court, Madden stood with his shoulders hunched forward as he leaned against the rail in front of the prisoner’s dock. He answered the judge’s routine questions in a low, clear voice. At one point, he was asked if his parents were in the courtroom.
Madden surveyed the courtroom and told the judge, “Doesn’t look like it.’’
No one answered the door at the home Madden shares with his father. A next-door neighbor who gave her name only as Karen said she was shocked by the charges.
Here we go again with the lone nut, blah, blah!
She described Madden as a friendly person who was never mean, and said his father is a good man.
Hmmmmmmmmmm!
There have been several incidents throughout the state involving the stockpiling or setting off of explosives. Last month, police found what they described as “prepared Molotov cocktails” in the trunk of a Beverly man’s car.
See: The Joke is on Jovic
No, it's on us and no longer falling for it.
In Norwell in January, a report of a loud explosion resulted in the arrest of a teenager for allegedly stockpiling explosives; in May 2013, a Hanover man was arrested for storing about 200 fireworks-style explosives in his parents’ home in Norwell, according to The Patriot Ledger.
Related:
Teen faces charges after blast in Norwell
Homemade Explosives in Hanover
Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the state fire marshal’s office, said that most cases involving explosive devices that her office sees are young people who do not mean to do serious damage — teenagers making chemical reaction bombs, or people making fireworks.
“I would consider this Haverhill incident to be completely in a class by itself,” Mieth said of the allegations. “This person seemed to be trying to do something destructive by putting shrapnel in their improvised explosive device. . . . This is a very different situation.”
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Maybe it was all just a hoax.
Time for some football!
