More updates on the WSU student accused of the bomb threats. This could get interesting. He doesn’t fit the profile of your standard Neo-Nazi. Via KQQQ:
A Washington State University student has been arrested for allegedly making this Summer’s bomb threats against campus. 18 year old Jose Andres Tecuatl was arrested by WSU Police Monday night at his Stimson Hall dorm. Tecuatl was arrested for 3 counts of threats to bomb and 3 counts of felony harassment threats to kill.
According to Whitman County Superior Court documents Tecuatl allegedly called in the August 3rd bomb threat against campus. The 18 year old, originally from Tustin California, also reportedly scratched swastikas and a bomb threat on some Stimson Hall walls during the evening of August 21st and the early morning on the 22nd. Those threats were reported to police by Tecuatl. The message forced police to evacuate Stimson in the middle of the night last week. A previously undisclosed incident from WSU then occurred on Wednesday of last week. That’s when another swastika and bomb threat was found written on a whiteboard in the library. That message, allegedly from Tecuatl, once again threatened an explosive attack against Stimson Hall. The dorm was not evacuated as WSU Police felt it was a hoax. Then on Thursday of last week, Tecuatl allegedly printed out a bomb threat note that he told police was slipped under his dorm room door. WSU Police were once again forced to evacuate Stimson. Court documents show that the 18 year old quickly left campus for the weekend for an unplanned family visit after police contacted him about the bomb threats on Thursday. Later that night, investigators seized Tecuatl’s computer and allegedly found a document file with the bomb threat note that was reportedly slipped under his door.
Tecuatl is no longer a WSU student. Judge Gary Libey banned him from going within a thousand feet of any WSU campus during his first court appearance yesterday. Judge Libey told Tecuatl the restraining order was in response to the seriousness of the allegations and for his own safety, especially considering the racist message associated with some of his alleged threats. Tecuatl’s bond was set at 50,000 dollars. He is scheduled to be back in court on Friday. WSU Police say that there is no evidence that the teenager had the ability to actually bomb campus.
Update: from the Lewiston Tribune:
Tecuatl’s Defense Attorney Michael J. Pettit, of Pullman, disagreed with the recommendation and said it would end Tecuatl’s college career before he was ever found guilty of committing a crime.
“I urge you to think twice about ending his college education on such sparse information,” Pettit told the court. “Frankly it seems more of a civil matter and WSU can make a decision on that.”
Despite Pettit’s pushing, Whitman County Superior Court Judge Gary Libey set Tecuatl’s bond at $50,000 and agreed to ban him from coming within 1,000 feet of campus.
“For your own safety, you shouldn’t go back to WSU,” Libey said. “If people think you did this, you’re not going to be welcome in Pullman, I can tell you that much. All these people … have been threatened and scared a bomb could kill their friends.”
“And these swastikas are at a point in time people are very conscious about those emblems and those statements,” he said. “You picked a very poor time to allegedly commit these crimes.”
If convicted, Tecuatl faces a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 for each threatening-to-bomb charge and up to five years and $10,000 for the felony harassment charges.