KABUL: (MEP) Police in the city of Richmond raided and arrested a 55-year-old California man William Celli in his home on Sunday afternoon after receiving calls that he was making explosives and plotting to attack Muslims.
Investigators are seeking hate crime charges against a Donald Trump supporter for planning to attack American Muslims.
Police told reporters they didn’t know if the device was active or inert, and no other evidence was found at the home, according to a local report in the Contra Costa Times.
Celli has delivered a threatening letter to the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, DC.
He was charged with possession of an explosive device and making criminal threats to attack Muslim targets in the country.
Police, including a SWAT team and detectives, evacuated the neighborhood around William Celli’s home after serving a warrant and finding a device at his home on Sunday afternoon. Celli was arrested and booked into county jail the same day, according to the Times. There were no injuries.
A self-employed plumber, Celli posts regularly on Facebook, where he appears to be a strong admirer of GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, multiple media outlets reported. In October, he wrote “I’ll follow this MAN to the end of the world.”
Trump has created a furor in the US and around the world by proposing a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims” entering the United States, following last month’s mass shooting in California.
