A 63-YEAR-OLD Southern California man who had explosives in his vehicle has been arrested outside one of the largest mosques in the US, authorities say.
Police in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn said Roger Stockham was arraigned on Wednesday on one count of making a false report or threat of terrorism and one count of possessing explosives with an unlawful intent.
Stockham had a large but undisclosed quantity of fireworks including M-80s, which are outlawed in Michigan, Chief Ronald Haddad said. “I was comfortable with the fact that we had taken him off the street – he isn’t going anywhere,” Haddad told The Associated Press on Sunday afternoon.
“I think the society he wanted to impact is safe.” Haddad said Stockham was arrested on Monday evening without incident in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America, while a large group was gathered inside. He said police received an emergency call from a resident.
Haddad said authorities believe Stockham was acting alone but still take him “very seriously”. He said Stockham has “a long history of anti-government activities,” though he declined to elaborate. Stockham remained jailed on Sunday on a $US500,000 ($A505,000) bond.
A preliminary examination is scheduled for Friday. Police didn’t know whether Stockham had a lawyer. A public records search did not turn up a listed number for Stockham, though Haddad said he lives in Imperial Beach, near San Diego.
Dearborn, located about 16km west of Detroit, is the centre of the Detroit area’s Arab-American community, which is one of the largest in the US.
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