A 36-year-old Seattle man threatened to blow up a Portland police station with an “undetectable” bomb unless police stood down from Black Lives Matter protests in the Oregon city, the US Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
Kyle Robert Tornow was arrested Wednesday and accused of using the Portland Police TrackIT communication system to warn cops on July 24 that there was a bomb at the stationhouse, and if he were busted “others will take my place and immediately detonate the bomb,” the US Attorney’s Office in Washington state said in a release.
“I am going to bomb a police precinct in Portland OR,” the threat said, according to a federal complaint filed Wednesday. “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,” it said. “We are strong, many and fluid in nature… This is a felony threat. Please take this seriously to avoid death.”
There is no indication that a bomb had actually been planted.
The FBI tracked the email address used in the threat, dark56korbit@yahoo.com, and traced it to Tornow, prosecutors said.
He is charged with making a threat to damage or destroy a building, and faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Tornow has prior arrests for car theft, harassment and drug offenses, the federal complaint said.