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Defendant Indicted for Pipe Bomb Attack on Salem’s Satanic Temple
BOSTON – Sean Patrick Palmer, 49, of Perkins, Oklahoma, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for allegedly throwing a pipe bomb at The Satanic Temple (TST) in Salem, Massachusetts on April 8, 2024.
According to the charging documents, surveillance cameras captured Palmer, wearing a black face covering, a tan-colored tactical vest and gloves, walking towards TST at approximately 4:14 a.m. It is alleged that Palmer then ignited a pipe bomb, threw it at TST’s main entrance and ran away. Seconds later, the pipe bomb partially detonated, causing minor fire and related damage to TST’s exterior.
The pipe bomb was constructed from a section of plastic pipe covered with metal nails attached to the pipe with tape. The inside of the pipe was filled with a powder-like substance, preliminarily identified as smokeless gunpowder. DNA from a Caucasian male was found on the outside of the pipe bomb.
A six-page handwritten note was found in a flower bed adjacent to TST, near the area where Palmer allegedly threw the pipe bomb. The note, allegedly written by Palmer, stated that he was sent by Elohim to give a ‘peaceful message’ to the TST, but when they refused, Elohim sent him to ‘smite Satan’.
Palmer was initially charged by criminal complaint and arrested on April 17, 2024 in Perkins, Oklahoma. He subsequently appeared in federal court in the Western District of Oklahoma, where the Court ordered Palmer detained and transferred to the District of Massachusetts. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.
The charge of using fire or an explosive to cause damage to a building used in interstate or foreign commerce provides for a sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Lucas J. Miller, Chief of the Salem Police Department made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Massachusetts State Police; Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Oklahoma City Field Office; Payne County Sherriff’s Office; Oklahoma Highway Patrol; the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma; and Stillwater (Okla.) Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason A. Casey of the National Security Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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