A man from Barnwell, South Carolina, who intentionally placed two homemade bombs outside Pickens County, South Carolina, in July 2019, was convicted in federal court this week.
Michael Seabrooke, 37, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession of explosive devices and two counts of intentional damage and attempted damage through explosive material.
At approximately 11:15 pm EDT on Sunday, July 7, 2019, a pair of homemade bombs detonated outside the Pickens, SC County Courthouse in Pickens, SC
These two homemade bombs were “intentionally placed” in a fenced area on the side of the court building, according to the Pickens, SC police department.
The device, made up of two pumps coupled to a propane cylinder, caused minimal structural damage to the building, according to court documents.
No one was injured during the bombing.
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When police analyzed the surveillance video for the area, detectives identified a Chevy truck as the suspect’s vehicle, according to court documents. The police tracked the sign and named Seabrooke as the suspect.
Days later, Seabrooke was spotted by the police and arrested.
When he was interviewed, Seabrooke confessed to the FBI that he had placed the explosive device out of court, according to court records.
Seabrooke also confessed to throwing other devices on the roof of the SC Department of Social Services (SCDSS) Pickens County office. The building was evacuated three days after the bomb in court due to a threat involving homemade arson devices.
He told police he had other explosive devices in his car, according to court documents.
Police then searched his vehicle and found other explosive devices (including three Molotov cocktails) and evidence that linked him to both incidents, according to court records.
He originally faced a number of other state charges in the incident, including detonating a destructive device, possession of a weapon of mass destruction and intentional injury in court or prison. These charges appear to be pending in the state court.
Criminal history
After the bombing incident, many questioned why Seabrooke was out of prison to begin with.
Seabrooke has been arrested on several occasions in the past. In 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015, he was caught on family court warrants.
He was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Fairfield County in February 2019 – the case is still pending.
According to sources familiar with the situation, Seabrooke allegedly raped a relative who was less than ten years old at the time of the attack.
Circuit Court Judge SC Brian Gibbons set Seabrooke’s bail at $ 15,000 on charges of criminal sexual conduct in 2019 before the bombing incident.
He was also on probation because of an “aggravated violation of peace”.
Sources close to Seabrooke told FITSNews that he began to behave irrationally in 2015, believing that authorities in Pickens County conspired with the mother of his two children to kill them (although both children are still alive).
“I’m not sure where he got this crazy idea from, but he decided it was a fact and that his children had died,” a source close to the family told us.
In October 2017, Seabrooke posted disturbing comments on social media, referring to “crucket” (ie corrupt) police officers and their plans to deal with them.
Your own brother, John Seabrooke, told reporters with The Greenville News that he should already be behind bars.
“They should have been denied bail,” said John Seabrooke, referring to the charge of criminal sexual conduct.
Seabrooke was sentenced to 144 months in federal prison. There is no parole for federal sentences.
The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office, the Pickens Police Department, the FBI, and the Office of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the United States Assistant Prosecutor, Max Cauthen , who handled the case.
– FITSNews Founding Editor Will Folks contributed to this report …
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