OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
12:24 PM – Thursday, November 14, 2024
A $25,000 reward is being offered by U.S. federal officials in relation to a string of ballot box fire incidents that occurred during early voting last month in Oregon and the state of Washington.
The FBI announced on Wednesday that it is asking the public’s help in identifying a suspect who has been linked to three incendiary incidents.
For information that results in the identification, apprehension, and conviction of the guilty individual, the agency is offering a reward of up to $25,000.
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According to the FBI, the first incident was on October 8th in Vancouver, Washington, when a ballot box caught on fire between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time.
Following the first incident, between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time on October 28th, ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and more in Vancouver similarly caught on fire as well. According to officials, a fire suppression device failed to work properly, damaging hundreds of voter ballots.
According to the FBI, “improvised incendiary devices” were discreetly placed underneath the ballot drop boxes in each of the three occurrences.
Fortunately, a security camera caught the Portland ballot box fire incident on film, including a car seen driving away by a man believed to be behind these attacks.
The vehicle is seen stopping close to the ballot box, which is situated on a sidewalk, in a nearly three-minute video that the FBI made public. After passing something through the driver’s window and lighting it, the driver quickly speeds off. Soon after, the ballot box starts to show signs of smoke, before briefly sparking.
In one case, election officials claimed that fire suppressants had protected “almost all” of the ballots and that it stopped additional damage.
The FBI described the suspicious getaway car as a “dark Volvo S-60 sedan [made in] early 2003 to 2004 with light upholstery and dark wheels.” Additionally, the vehicle does not have a Volvo logo on the front grill. The driver is described by the FBI as a “White male, approximately 30 to 40 years old, with thinning hair.”
“At the time of the October 28, 2024, incidents, the vehicle also displayed a fraudulent temporary Washington license plate on the rear and no front license plate. The plate, which is not associated with a Volvo, may no longer be on the vehicle,” the FBI stated. “It is believed that he may have some experience with metal work and welding,” the agency added.
The statements “Free Gaza” and “Free Palestine” were marked on the incendiary device used in the first incident, two people familiar with the ongoing inquiry told ABC News. Additionally, the phrase “Free Gaza” were the words marked on the two last devices.
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