A New York man was arrested on Wednesday after building a 200-pound bomb with the intent of detonating it in Washington D.C. on Election Day next month, killing himself and likely others as well.
Paul Rosenfeld, 56, was arrested on federal charges of manufacturing an explosive device.
“As alleged, Paul M. Rosenfeld concocted a twisted plan to draw attention to his political ideology by killing himself on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. — risking harm to many others in the process,” U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said, according to the New York Daily News. “Rosenfeld’s alleged plan for an Election Day detonation cut against our democratic principles.”
Rosenfeld reportedly wanted to detonate the bomb to bring attention to his beliefs in “sortition.” Sortition is the belief that government officials should be randomly selected from a pool of qualified candidates.
When police pulled him over, he admitted to purchasing eight pounds of black powder to make a large bomb. He also reportedly told authorities that he had tested smaller devices.
A search of Rosenfeld’s house turned up the large bomb.
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