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    • Phoenix man suspected of political terrorism ends controversial 2024 cycle
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    Phoenix man suspected of political terrorism ends controversial 2024 cycle

    Umito Posted on

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    Shots were fired at an empty Democratic Party presidential campaign office. Booby-trapped political signs were built and placed throughout the neighborhood. The next afternoon, Jeffrey Kelly left his home without his cell phone. It was a sign, authorities said, that he did not want his location known.

    The authorities took no risks in arresting him. They deployed a device called a grappling hook that sent a net around the rear tire of his vehicle, immobilizing him. Agents and officers rushed at him.

    Inside his SUV, authorities found an assortment of weapons. That led them to believe, according to a court filing, that he was about to do something serious. Court documents spoke of an imminent “mass casualty event.”

    Kelly was arrested Wednesday and was detained one day Million dollar cash bail. He faces several charges, including three counts of false terrorist threatsinvolving shots and signs intended to cut off someone trying to remove them.

    Kelly’s arrest came less than two weeks before the 2024 general election.

    This occurred during a month that began with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issuing a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, warning them of potential domestic terrorists harboring ” election-related grievances, such as perceived voter fraud or anger toward perceived political adversaries.”

    The arrest took place in a state that is one of the few states in play in the presidential race. The Phoenix area saw a parade of candidates and surrogates in October, including presidential hopefuls, vice presidential hopefuls U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as well as former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

    Vice President Kamala Harris was in Phoenix on October 11. Former President Donald Trump held a rally in Tempe on Thursday.

    This occurred while authorities were still pursuing cases related to the 2020 election. In October 2024, the convictions were handed down to people convicted of sending online threats to Arizona election officials during the previous American presidential campaign.

    This happened as millions of Phoenix-area residents prepared to mail their ballots early or planned to vote in person. Those ballots would be cast at an election headquarters south of downtown Phoenix, where security barriers have been installed and the fabric of the fences prevents spectators from seeing the parking lot.

    At a press conference on Wednesday who gave details of Kelly’s arrest, Tempe Police Chief Ken McCoy asked the public to remain vigilant. He said he was optimistic that the elections would take place without violence.

    “We hope that people will find civil ways to resolve their differences,” he said, “and that the days leading up to our elections and beyond will be peaceful.” »

    Detective: Kelly’s actions were meant to be highly visible and cause fear

    The field office for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign opened in July but did not appear designed to attract attention. No sign meant it was a Democratic Party operation. Her door was under a sign advertising a hair salon on the same Tempe square.

    Looking out the window, Harris campaign signs could be seen plastered on a wall. It’s unclear whether Jeffrey Kelly looked into this closely before launching what authorities described as a fear campaign.

    One September night around midnight, police said, Kelly pointed a gun at the windows and door of his SUV and fired several times. A few days later he would do it again. And then a third time.

    The office was empty. Authorities said Kelly’s intention was not necessarily to hurt anyone, but to scare Democrats working inside.

    And in mid-October, he came up with a new plan to do just that.

    Kelly created a makeshift sign factory in his backyard, authorities said. There, he created political signs, some designed to mimic the fonts and colors of those made in real campaigns.

    Around some panels, he jammed utility blades, authorities said. They did not explicitly state the reason for this in the documents. But if someone tried to remove a panel and grabbed it without seeing the blades, their hands could be cut off.

    Bags of powder were placed on the backs of some signs, authorities said. Next to these bags were secular handwritten notes warning that the substance posed a biohazard. It ended up being baking powder.

    The goal was not to poison anyone, authorities said. But to scare people.

    The actions were “strategically placed” to be highly visible, a detective wrote in a probable cause statement filed with the court. It was evident, according to the document, that Kelly was “attempting to (sow) fear around the upcoming election.”

    Inside Kelly’s home, located in a well-kept Ahwatukee Foothills subdivision, federal agents found a cache of weapons. They began taking inventory of his open garage and carport Wednesday morning before loading them into a moving van. Court documents said they found 120 weapons of various kinds.

    A lawyer for Kelly denied all accusations in court, describing his client, a retired aerospace engineer, as a borderline genius who had never been in trouble with the law before.

    “We all want to agree,” Kelly’s lawyer Jason Squires said in court, “we want a safe, legal and fair election. We don’t want interference.” Squires said the accusations against his client were exaggerated and that the connection was based on the premise that authorities stopped a “9/11 in the making.”

    Squires said the terrorism charges were the result of a simpler act: putting up signs. “The allegations are all related to signs,” he said. “No one was hurt, thank God.”

    Psychologist: “There is no need for a lot of people to cause problems”

    A University of Michigan clinical psychologist who has studied the link between gun purchasing and individuals’ penchant for extreme thoughts said Kelly appears to fit a pattern he has observed in his research.

    “There’s this group of people on the right who are hoarding guns and believing these kinds of conspiracy theories about the government,” said researcher Brian Hicks, a professor in the department of psychiatry. “And perhaps we will have to take up arms against the government, depending on the outcome of the elections. »

    Hicks began his research into gun ownership, relying primarily on national online surveys, after seeing armed protesters marching around the Michigan Capitol after the 2020 election. He said he saw a significant increase in conspiracy beliefs among those who purchased firearms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    It’s unclear when Kelly, who his attorney said participated in shooting competitions and was a “sportsman,” gathered his arsenal.

    Hicks said another indicator of who bought guns during the pandemic was being highly educated and having high incomes. “Guns are expensive,” Hicks said.

    He said he was not worried about a “popular uprising” by armed civilians based on the election outcome, but he said a single person could have a big impact on the national psyche.

    “You might have these kinds of people committing acts of terrorism,” Hicks said. “It doesn’t take a lot of people to cause such trouble.”

    Kelly seemed like the kind of neighbor most people on his street avoided. A woman, who described herself as a friend of Kelly’s, declined to speak to Republic reporters. Others, who described him as somewhere between a quiet man and a strange recluse, did not want to give their names.

    Authorities disclosed some of what they found during the search of his home in court records. This is usually a preliminary filing, giving the judge just enough information to keep a suspect in custody. In this case, that information resulted in two $500,000 cash bonds expected to be posted for Kelly’s release.

    More evidence would come in future court filings. Just like Kelly’s lawyer who would defend his side of the story.

    And until then, Arizona and the United States will have to grapple with an entire controversial presidential election and its aftermath.

    Contact the journalist at [email protected].

    Umito
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