A New York man built a 200-pound bomb to blow up election day: the federal government



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A New York state man built a 200-kilogram bomb in his basement and planned to blow it up in Washington on polling day, according to federal authorities who arrested him.

Paul Rosenfeld, 56, of Tappan, was planning to commit suicide in the blast and draw attention to his political beliefs, prosecutors said. They said that Rosenfeld is a supporter of the "tri-sorting", an old political system in which government representatives are randomly selected.

"Rosenfeld concocted a twisted plan to draw attention to his political ideology by killing himself in the Washington, DC, national mall – thus potentially harming many more," said Geoffrey Berman, US Attorney General of Canada. Southern District of New York a statement. "Rosenfeld's so-called plan for a detonation on polling day is contrary to our democratic principles."

Rosenfeld sent letters and text messages to a person in Pennsylvania – identified by NBC News as a journalist – in which Rosenfeld detailed his plan to blow himself up, the authorities said. The person contacted law enforcement and on Tuesday, Rosenfeld was arrested by police and arrested.

According to the authorities, Rosenfeld admitted to having ordered large amounts of explosive black powder on the Internet, which he had transported from New Jersey to his home in Tappan. He said he used the substance to build a big bomb in his basement.

He told the investigators that he had installed "some components in the explosive to make sure he was killed in the blast", which he had planned to do on November 6th in the National Mall.

Rosenfeld also admitted to building small bombs and detonation tests, prosecutors said.

Journal News reported that law enforcement officers raided Rosenfeld's home on Tuesday, discovering what "appeared to be a bomb weighing about 200 pounds". The explosive was removed by FBI technicians and transported to a safe place.

Rosenfeld appeared for the first time in federal court in New York on Wednesday accused of illegally fabricating a device for destruction, as well as interstate transportation and receipt of an explosive. He will be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Officials said they believed Rosenfeld had acted alone and was not part of a larger terrorist organization. "Rosenfeld's motive was to draw attention to his political belief in" sort of a triumph, "Berman's office said in a statement.

Sorting was "the main system for choosing political leaders in old Athens," wrote the Daily Beast in a 2014 exploder on ideology, highlighting the existence of some advocates in the United States.

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