Man accused of placing explosive device under Utah news vehicle

A Utah man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly placing a homemade explosive device under a Salt Lake City news station’s SUV.

Christopher Solomon Proctor, 45, was charged last week in federal court with attempted arson in interstate commerce and possession of an unregistered destructive device.

On Monday, a judge ordered that Proctor remain in custody pending the outcome of his legal case.

“The offense as alleged involves intentional planning and was aimed to cause alarm and concern. Evidence discovered also leads to the reasonable inference that defendant planned to repeat the attempt. He has also made statements in the past on his phone and to others indicating a desire ‘burn,’ ‘riot’ or otherwise participate in civil unrest,” the judge stated in his order to have Proctor remain in custody.

Last month, Adeeb Nasir, 58, and Adil Justice Ahmed Nasir, 31, were arrested as part of the investigation. Both men were charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of manufacturing, using or possessing a hoax weapon of mass destruction, a second-degree felony, after dynamite, guns and marijuana were found in their Magna home, according to charging documents.

However, the criminal charges filed after their arrests do not make any connection between the Nasirs and the incident with the news vehicle.

According to a federal complaint filed against Proctor, on Sept. 12 about 4:15 a.m., “an incendiary destructive device, a 2.5 gallon plastic gas can with a lit multi-foot-long fuse” was placed under a Fox 13 news vehicle. But the fuse went out before reaching the gas can, and the device did not explode.

Local and federal bomb technicians and arson investigators responded to the scene after the gas can was discovered by a Fox employee. Investigators canvassed the neighborhood and recovered surveillance video that recorded a man “wearing dark pants, carrying multiple bags” who walked up to the news vehicle, “stopped, placed an item under the truck, and is believed to then lay out the fuse, which appears to already be attached to the device,” the charges state. The man then lit the fuse and ran off while the fuse “continued to burn, with light flickering from the general area of the fuse … when it appeared to self-terminate.”

The Utah State Crime Lab lifted fingerprints off the gas can and, using the state DNA database, came up with Proctor as a possible suspect, according to the charges. Using license plate reader devices in the city, detectives were able to place Proctor’s vehicle in the area of the news vehicle, the charges state.

Investigators further determined that Proctor had purchased “tactical gloves” and “Ace Martial Arts Supply Ninja Tabi Boots” prior to lighting the gas can, according to the charges. The man in the surveillance video is seen wearing both.

On Sept. 19, an FBI surveillance team observed Proctor return to the Fox 13 news building and slowly drive by several times before leaving, charging documents state. The next day, FBI agents served search warrants on Proctor’s residence and vehicle.

“Included in the items seized were black ninja boots, which appear to be similar to the boots worn by the individual captured on surveillance footage of the incendiary incident, an empty gas can with a hole carved in the top,” a fuse and tactical gloves, the charges state.

On Sept. 26, an acquaintance of Proctor allegedly told agents that Proctor admitted to placing a device under the news vehicle.