Bomb Detonated, Man Arrested After Abandoned Tool Bag Sat for Weeks at Detroit Federal Building
When an FBI agent found an abandoned tool bag containing a metal cash box outside the McNamara Federal building in Detroit on Feb. 26, he turned it over to a security guard.
It wasn’t X-rayed or scanned until March 18, after which the Detroit Bomb Squad was called in to detonate the viable explosive device it contained, according to ABC News and the Detroit Free Press.
A suspect has now been arrested after FBI agents traced purchases made with cash at a Home Depot in Iron Mountain, Mich., with the help of surveillance footage, to Gary John Mikulich, who lives in the Iron Mountain area.
Mikulich is a graduate of Michigan Tech University and blames the FBI’s “card system” for his father’s death, the Free Press says.
He reportedly has a history of making threats against the FBI and has claimed to be the United States president.
Charged in federal court in Detroit with attempting to damage or destroy government property using an explosive, he could face as much as 20 years if he is convicted.
The incident concerning the explosive device—which has not officially been determined to be a bomb—has raised concerns about the security measures in place at federal buildings, according to the Associated Press.
A contract security officer has been suspended as the Department of Homeland Security is investigating the handling of the bag and its Federal Protective Service is sending trainers to Detroit.
The abandoned tool bag “was put in a locked room, basically on the assumption that it was a lost-and-found issue. This violated all security protocols,” David Wright told the news agency. He is president of the union that represents Federal Protective Service officers in Detroit, but not contract guards at the federal building.
