Man Behind Ballot Box Fires Might Plan More Attacks, Police Say | EUROtoday

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The man suspected of setting fires in poll drop bins in Oregon and Washington state is an skilled metalworker and could also be planning extra assaults, authorities stated Wednesday.

Investigators consider the person who set the incendiary units at poll bins in Portland, Oregon, and close by Vancouver, Washington, had a “wealth of experience” in steel fabrication and welding, stated Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner.

The means the units have been constructed and the best way they have been connected to the steel drop bins confirmed that experience, Benner stated.

Authorities described the suspect as a white man, age 30 to 40, who’s balding or has very brief hair.

Police beforehand stated surveillance video confirmed the person driving a black or dark-colored 2001 to 2004 Volvo S-60. The car didn’t have a entrance license plate, nevertheless it did have a rear plate with unknown letters or numbers.

The incendiary units have been marked with the message “Free Gaza,” in accordance with a legislation enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on the situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to debate an ongoing investigation.

A 3rd machine positioned at a unique drop field in Vancouver earlier this month additionally carried the phrases “Free Palestine” along with “Free Gaza,” the official stated.

Investigators try to establish the individual accountable and the motive for the suspected arson assaults, which destroyed or broken lots of of ballots on the drop field in Vancouver on Monday when the field’s fireplace suppression system didn’t work as meant. Authorities try to determine whether or not the suspect truly had pro-Palestinian views or used the message to attempt to create confusion, in accordance with the official.

Surveillance photos captured a Volvo pulling as much as a drop field in Portland simply earlier than safety personnel close by found a fireplace contained in the field on Monday, in accordance with Benner. The early-morning fireplace was extinguished rapidly due to the field’s suppression system and a close-by safety guard, police stated. Just three of the ballots inside have been broken.

The poll field in Vancouver that burned additionally had a fireplace suppression system inside, nevertheless it failed to forestall lots of of ballots from being scorched, stated Greg Kimsey, the longtime elected auditor in Clark County, Washington, which incorporates Vancouver. Kimsey stated Tuesday that the precise variety of destroyed ballots wasn’t identified, and that about 475 broken ballots had been retrieved from the field.

Election employees on Wednesday deliberate to kind by the broken ballots for details about who solid them, within the hopes that these voters may be given alternative ballots. Kimsey urged voters who dropped their ballots within the transit heart field between 11 a.m. Saturday and early Monday to contact his workplace for a alternative poll.

Authorities in Portland stated Monday that sufficient materials from the incendiary units was recovered to indicate that the 2 fires have been linked — and that they have been linked to an Oct. 8 incendiary machine at a unique poll drop field in Vancouver. No ballots have been broken in that incident.

Voters in Washington are inspired to test the standing of their ballots at www.votewa.gov to trace their return standing. If a returned poll shouldn’t be marked as “received,” voters can print a alternative poll or go to their native elections division for a alternative, the secretary of state’s workplace stated.

Durkin Richer reported from Washington. Gene Johnson in Seattle contributed.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bc-us-election-2024-ballot-box-fires_n_6722b745e4b06b242cfe7f76