The 25-year-old suspected of planning to bomb a Greenbelt abortion clinic is in custody until Sunday or Monday pending transfer to federal court.
Robert Weiler Jr. continues to be held at the Garrett County Detention Center, said Gloria Burns, spokeswoman for the center. He will remain in custody there until U.S. Marshals escort him to Greenbelt.
Weiler confessed Thursday to building an explosive with the intent to bomb the Metropolitan Family Planning Institute.
Friends and associates of the suspect contacted officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday after Weiler spoke of constructing a homemade pipe bomb and possessing a gun he stole from an acquaintance. Both were tools to be used in his attack on the abortion clinic.
As officials investigated these tips, Weiler called ATF agents early Thursday to surrender at a rest stop in Garrett County. A pistol and ammunition were found in the glove box of the suspect’s vehicle, which were to be used to “shoot doctors who provided abortions,” according to a court affidavit.
The suspect told ATF agents early Thursday that the pipe bomb was hidden in the closet of a friend’s Riverdale home on 67th Avenue.
After securing the area and working to disable the bomb, agents detonated it at 3:45 a.m. No injuries were caused.
Weiler was charged with four weapons counts, including possession of a stolen firearm. In 2003, he was convicted of obstructing police in Utah.
