Categorized | National News

Terror Suspect with Bahamian Ties Granted Bond

An accused neo-Nazi with Bahamian ties, facing federal explosives charges, was granted a request for bond after a judge said he was not a threat to the community.

Brandon Russell, 22, allegedly stored bomb-making materials at his Florida apartment, where authorities said they also found white supremacist propaganda.

Russell, a former St Andrew’s School International Baccalaureate student in eastern New Providence and grandson of Park ’N Shop owners William and Molly Russell, was charged last Monday after he was arrested during a traffic stop in Key Largo on May 22.

After talking with police, Russell went to a gun shop and purchased two hunting rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.

He was charged with possession of unregistered destructive devices and unlawful storage of explosive material.

However, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas McCoun III ruled on Friday to grant bond for Russell.

“I am unable to conclude there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant represents a threat to any other person and the community should he be released,” McCoun, a federal judge for the Middle District of Florida, wrote in his ruling.

The explosives were found in Russell’s apartment last month after the investigation into the murder of two roommates allegedly at the hands of another roommate, 18-year-old Devon Arthurs.

Arthurs allegedly told authorities that he and all of his roommates shared neo-Nazis beliefs until Arthurs converted to Islam.

Arthurs allegedly confessed to killing his two roommates because they “disrespected his Muslim faith,” according to Tampa Bay police.

The accused killer said Russell participated in online neo-Nazi chat rooms “where he threatened to kill people and bomb infrastructure,” according to a criminal complaint against Russell.

The Tampa Police Department found a cooler containing a “white cake-like substance” that technicians immediately realized was HMTD, an explosive material, in a garage area of the apartment, according to the complaint.

Russell, a 21-year-old Tampa resident enlisted in the U.S. Army National Guard, returned home from duty on May 19 to find the dead bodies of two of his roommates, Jeremy Himmelman and Andrew Oneschuk.

Police reportedly arrived a short time later with Arthurs, who had held up a nearby smoke shop and confessed to killing the men because they disrespected his Muslim faith.

Written by Jones Bahamas

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