Watch the related clip: Magna man nabbed for terrorism threats after explosive device found under news media vehicle.
These charges are only allegations. Everyone arrested is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
MAGNA, Utah (ABC4) – Trouble’s brewing for two Magna guys who got themselves in hot water with federal investigators. They allegedly put a suspicious device under a news media vehicle in Salt Lake City, and now they’re hit with charges for claiming they had dynamite, which led to evacuating their whole neighborhood.
Adeeb Nasir, aged 58, is looking at two counts of possessing or using a hoax weapon of mass destruction (that’s a fancy way of saying an altered reality bomb) and two counts related to dangerous weapon conduct, while the younger one, 31-year-old Adil Justice Ahmed Nasir, faces similar hoax weapon charges.
On September 12, emergency responders, including the Salt Lake City Bomb Squad and Unified Fire crews, jumped into action after getting reports of a suspicious device. Turns out, this device was found under a parked news media car in Salt Lake City – the scene was heating up! Police noted that while the incendiary device was lit, it didn’t actually go off as intended.
The FBI stepped in for public safety reasons and tracked the pair down at their home in Magna, armed with a search warrant to search their residence.
Their charges stem from what investigators discovered in their home: two inert sticks of dynamite that they pretended were real, plus two handguns – which they really shouldn’t have had due to previous legal issues.
Because the two were claiming the dynamite was real, they caused an evacuation of their home and the surrounding homes. An investigator from the Unified Fire Authority later checked the sticks and found out they were just fake – they looked like the real deal but didn’t function.
According to court documents, these guys either knew the truth of their “explosives” and still stirred up trouble, or they seriously believed they held real explosives, putting themselves and others at huge risk.
So far, they haven’t faced charges for that fiery incident under the news media vehicle, and the FBI is still digging into that one.
“Right now, we’re dealing with state charges for the fake dynamite and weapons found in plain sight at their home. We can’t say anything further about the federal investigation,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill in a press release. He added: “Everyone accused is presumed innocent unless they prove otherwise in court.”
Currently, Adil and Adeeb Nasir are locked up at the Salt Lake County Jail without bail.
Report by Ryan Bittan.
