A President Trump supporter identified her own grandson as the suspect behind throwing a makeshift bomb at a federal courthouse in Portland.
Karla Fox, described as “a Trump-loving, 69-year-old woman” by the New York Post, said Saturday that she recognized her grandson in a video of the attack on the courthouse by a vest the suspect was wearing.
“I bought the vest for him after he found one online after getting hit with rubber bullets the night before at the protest,” Fox told the New York Post.
Fox had also posted a review of the vest online, which helped authorities track him down, saying, “I got this for my grandson who’s a protester downtown, he uses it every night and says it does the job.”
The Department of Justice announced law enforcement officials arrested and charged Gabriel Agard-Berryhill, 18, last week for “using fire to maliciously damage the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland on July 28, 2020.”
“ATF investigators reviewed social media posts from the night of the explosion and located videos of the incendiary object being thrown. The individual depicted throwing the object, later identified to be Agard-Berryhill, was a young, Caucasian male wearing a green colored vest, camouflage pants, and a mask. Investigators observed the person in other protest-related videos posted online wearing the same vest and attempting to hold a shield in front of a naked woman,” the DOJ said in a Friday press release.
Rioters threw a bomb at the front of the Portland federal courthouse. This wasn’t one of their usual firework explosives. #PortlandRiots #antifa pic.twitter.com/omCq0GtZMj
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 28, 2020
“This is my only grandson, I love him to death, and didn’t know he was going to do such a bad thing, I had been posting several things about the antifa and BLM, he knows I am against those riots bigtime … he chose his poison,” Fox tweeted last Wednesday in regard to an article on her grandson.
This is my only grandson, I love him to death, and didn’t know he was going to do such a bad thing, I had been posting several things about the antifa and BLM, he knows I am against those riots bigtime…he chose his poison https://t.co/AdVBgh9Kjy
— Author K J Hafdahl (@TRUMPSGIRL2020) July 29, 2020
Fox told the New York Post that she was unaware of her grandson’s politics and said when they last spoke in late July, he said he was peacefully protesting and even protected a female protester.
“I believed all his stories,” Fox said. “He said he was just hanging out at Riot Ribs [a now-defunct barbeque stand that served protesters] and doing peaceful things.”
“I don’t condone any of this,” she added. “I am amazed at all of these events.”
Agard-Berryhill was charged with felony arson and was released without bail. He faces a minimum of five years in jail if convicted.
Riots and protests have raged in Portland since the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day, with protesters often targeting federal buildings such as the courthouse.
