A Utah teenager inspired by ISIS has been arrested after trying to detonate a bomb at a Utah high school on Monday.
The bomb was brought to Pine View High School in St. George, Utah, and was discovered after students noticed a suspicious backpack with smoke coming out of it.
“Based on our investigation we can confirm this was a failed attempt to detonate a homemade explosive,” police officials said. After obtaining a warrant and searching the teen’s home, police said they found materials in the home that match those found in the bomb.
St. George police also said the teenager had been “researching information and expressing interest in ISIS and promoting the organization,” stating the teen had raised an ISIS flag supporting the terrorist group at another Utah high school last month.
Authorities said the teen hoisted the ISIS flag on Feb. 15, just one day after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
On Tuesday, police confirmed that the teen is also connected to an incident at Hurricane High School, where an American flag was destroyed and “ISIS is coming” was spray painted on the high school’s exterior wall.
The teenager, whose identity has not been released, was arrested and charged with manufacturing and possessing a weapon of mass destruction.
Authorities say additional charges may be brought for the vandalism at Hurricane High School.
“I saw them looking through the bag, and then they picked it up and ran it outside,” said Tavien Hancock, a student at Pine View High School. “It’s pretty scary knowing that I was around a bomb and walked by a bomb three times — it’s going to make me more aware of my surroundings.”
“I think it is a shock to all of us that something like this has happened in one of our schools,” said Washington County School District spokesman Steve Dunham.
St. George police said, “Bomb squad members indicated that if [the bomb] had detonated, the device had the potential to cause significant injury or death.”
The Monday incident at Pine View High School has yet to be reported on by mainstream media outlets, such as CNN and MSNBC.
While there were no fatalities at Pine View, an ISIS threat is still newsworthy. If the backpack went unnoticed, the bomb could have been detonated, potentially killing dozens of students and faculty members.
Last month, mainstream media outlets did not hesitate to report a story about an unintentional shooting at Sal Castro Middle School that resulted in zero fatalities.
In the case of Pine View High School, however, the culprit was radical Islam, and the tool used was a homemade bomb. The mainstream media blackout suggests their interests lie in promulgating a particular narrative.
Alana Mastrangelo (@ARmastrangelo) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a political activist and writer.
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