Authorities charged a man with terrorism and possessing a weapon of mass destruction after “incendiary” devices were found at several buildings, including a church, on Sunday morning, reports CBS Spartanburg, South Carolina affiliate WSPA-TV. The one at the church was intact but the others had gone off, causing light damage, Brevard police said.
Man arrested and charged with terrorism
Officers were called to the First Baptist Church of Brevard around 10:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of an incendiary device on church grounds.
Officers searched the area and found multiple devices, which had detonated, at the Transylvania County Community Services Building and the American Legion Lodge.
Terry Lee Barham, 64, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with three counts of terrorism, possession of a weapon of mass destruction, transportation of a weapon of mass destruction, manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction, malicious damage to a government building, attempted malicious damage to a government building, attempted malicious damage to a church, and attempted malicious damage to an occupied building.
Brevard Police said Barham was linked to the devices though the investigative efforts of their department along with the Transylvania County Sheriff’s Office, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the ATF. Barham was being held in the Transylvania County Jail on $280,000 bond.
More bombs planted in North Carolina
The ATF is still on edge ever since Christmas of last year, when Anthony Quinn Warner detonated a recreational vehicle (RV) bomb in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, killing himself, injuring eight people and damaging dozens of buildings in the surrounding area. It took place at 166 Second Avenue North between Church Street and Commerce Street at 6:30 am, adjacent to an AT&T network hub, resulting in days-long communication service outages.
People near the RV heard gunshots, and loudspeakers on the RV warned them to evacuate before the bombing, which was felt miles away. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined that Warner, a Nashville resident, was the bomber and acted alone.
