Via Daily Mail:
Just eight days before three people were killed and more than 260 people were injured in the Boston Marathon bombing, a Ukrainian student was arrested in New Jersey carrying two homemade devices.
Rutgers student Mykyta Panasenko, 27, was arrested in Hoboken on April 7 aboard a NJ Transit train bound for Suffern, New York. He was carrying two improvised explosive devices, according to police.
Jersey City Police Deputy Chief Peter Nalbach said Thursday that authorities also found material at Panasenko’s home ‘that may have been used to make an explosive device.’
According to a criminal complaint, Panasenko is charged with having ‘two destructive devices, specifically improvised explosive devices (IEDs) constructed from a cylinder containing Pyrodex (black powder)’ on April 5, the criminal complaint says.
He is also charged with ‘recklessly creating widespread risk of injury or damage to a building which normally contains 25 or more persons by constructing the explosive devices,’ reports the Jersey Journal.
The charges were filed by the FBI and the Port Authority Police Department.
According to Panasenko’s Facebook page, he lived in Jersey City but is originally from Kiev, Ukraine.
And according to Pansasenko’s LinkedIn page, he attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, and lists his current job as a mathematician at Mahwah-based High 5 Games, a game creator in the casino industry.
His arrest wasn’t reported by authorities at the time, but became public after he appeared in Hudson County Court on Wednesday.
However, this may not be a case of being an intended bomber. PIX 11 has the background on what was in Panasenko’s mind, according to Jersey City Police:
JERSEY CITY (PIX11) – What was a Jersey City man doing with bomb making components in his apartment?
Jersey City Police said Mykyta Panasenko, 27, was arrested on April 15th after authorities found materials that could be combined to make explosives.
Panasenko was charged with possession of destructive devices and creating a risk of widespread damage. Authorities said he did transport a completed devices from his home earlier this month. He reportedly took the explosives on a New Jersey Transit train from Hoboken to Suffern, New York.
The New York Daily News reported that he detonated the devices on April 7th in Suffern for fun. Panasenko told the Daily News the devices were fireworks, not bombs.
“There is no indication at this point of the investigation that he intended to detonate a device in his building or on the transit system,” said Jersey City Police in a statement.
According to authorities, no completed explosive devices were found in the apartment or on a train.
Panasenko was charged on a summons complaint and released on his own recognizance.
Just a case of “poppen fireworks” from a gamer? Psst, fireworks are still against the law, guys, and sometimes as we saw with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, it goes a bit beyond “poppen fireworks”.
Update:
So far, no Islamic extremist connections I am seeing, he is from Kiev, what his religious background is is not clear. His Facebook doesn’t reveal anything anti-American or questionable.
He is a chess player who has been profiled as such by the Washington Times. The Jersey City Police appear to be accepting his story at the moment, or it is unlikely he would have been released on his own recognizance.
It may be the case of a foreign student chess gamer nerd who doesn’t get that fireworks are illegal in New Jersey and it’s really stupid to be carrying them on a train.
An important note, he was actually on a train to Suffern, NY, where frankly there isn’t anything that would be attractive to blow up if you were a terrorist. That means he was heading away from the more populous areas and NYC. So it does fit more the story that he was going someplace out of the way to blow them up for fun.
Here’s a picture of him getting a signature from Garry Kasparov, famous chess champion:
Update:
Via NYDN:
“There is no indication at this point of the investigation that he intended to detonate a device in his building or on the transit system,” Jersey City cops said in a press release.
Law enforcement learned about the explosives after a roommate saw the devices, “freaked out” and told one of Panasenko’s co-workers, the defendant said.
Panasenko said he was questioned by FBI agents on April 8 and told them he had no bad intentions, and that he was unaware the devices were illegal.
The explosives contained Pyrodex gunpowder, Panasenko said.
“They were fireworks,” he said, adding, “Obviously, it was a bad idea.”
The FBI didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Panasenko said he was disturbed when news of his arrest first spread across the Internet on Thursday – associated with the words “terrorist” and “bombs.”
“I’m not feeling well,” he said. “After all the stuff I just read about myself online, I almost passed out.”