Arrested for Planning to Burn a Building by Fire
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, USA – Loren Reed of 26 years of age, from Page, Arizona, was arrested on Tuesday, June 2, and charged in a complaint with a violation for using the internet and telephone to willfully threaten to unlawfully damage or destroy a building by fire.
According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Reed appeared before the US District Court Judge Camille Bibles in the Arizona region today.
According to the complaint:
On May 30, a concerned citizen called the Page Police Department and reported that Loren Reed had created a private Facebook chat group. In the chat, Reed was trying to convince people to join a meet up at the Page Courthouse and participate in a riot. Page Police Department officers then began monitoring the chat group in response to this report.
Between May 30 and June 2, Reed sent numerous messages in the chat group related to burning government buildings, including the Page Magistrate Courthouse and Page Police Department office. Reed suggested June 2 at 9:00 pm as the date and time for carrying out the plan. Reed encouraged others in the chat group to bring gas and other flammables. He also discussed the use of Molotov cocktails.
Reed was arrested on June 2, at approximately 7:00 p.m. on the charge outlined in the complaint.
A conviction for using the internet and telephone to willfully threaten to unlawfully damage or destroy a building by fire carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison, a $ 250,000 fine, or both.
A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The charges resulted from an investigation by the Page Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Todd Allison and David Pimsner, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
Photo credit: Canva Pro
