This photo, provided by the New York City Police Department, Monday, January 4, 2021, shows the explosive device at a shopping mall in Queens, New York. A police spokesman said an initial investigation showed that there was no explosive device. “An investigation is underway on the scam,” New York Police Sergeant Edward Riley said in an e-mailed statement. (New York Police Department via AP)
This photo, provided by the New York City Police Department, Monday, January 4, 2021, shows the explosive hoax device at a mall in New York’s Queens neighborhood. A police spokesman said an initial investigation showed that there was no explosive device. “An investigation is underway on the scam,” New York Police Sergeant Edward Riley said in an e-mailed statement. (New York Police Department via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) – An American nationalist who calls himself a suspect in leaving an explosive device hoax in a car at a New York mall is facing criminal charges after surrendering to the police, officials said on Tuesday.
Louis Shenker, 22, will be charged with placing a fake bomb, criminal possession of stolen property and abandoning a disabled animal in connection with Monday’s episode at Queens Place Mall in Elmhurst, said Detective Denise Moroney, spokeswoman for the police.
The mall was evacuated around 7:30 am on Monday after a device made to look like an explosive was found on a black Tesla parked on a ramp in a parking lot. A dog – a husky – was also found in the vehicle, which had a Nevada license plate and had been stolen in that state.
Shenker surrendered to the police at about 3 am Tuesday in Brooklyn. The Queens District Attorney’s office said it was preparing paperwork for Shenker’s charges and that he was due to be sued on Tuesday.
Being driven from a handcuffed police station, Shenker said the suspect device was actually a device for charging Tesla’s dead battery. He scoffed at media coverage as “fake news” and ridiculed the reporters covering his prison as “idiots”.
“It was a Tesla car being loaded,” said Shenker. “… It was literally a car being charged because the battery ran out.”
Shenker, who described himself on social media as a “patriot” and supporter of President Donald Trump, was arrested on December 30 on suspicion of setting a poster on fire at a police barricade in Manhattan. He was sued on Friday and released without bail.
A message asking for comments was left for Shenker’s lawyer in that case.
Police tweeted a photo showing an aerosol can, a roll of duct tape, wires and other items recovered from the car. Another photo showed a Black Lives Matter poster between the items. Investigators were investigating whether the poster was left there as a distraction, possibly to make it appear that the members of the movement were responsible for the rumor.
Shenker appeared on the online conspiracy program InfoWars and filled his social media accounts with far-right views and buzzwords like “#MAGA” and “#StopTheSteal”, noting his support for Trump’s false claim that the 2020 presidential election was defrauded.
Shenker was expelled from the University of Massachusetts Amherst amid controversy over his views. His lawyers claimed that he was the victim of anti-white and anti-Jewish attacks and that faculty members conspired to dismiss false accusations of hate crimes against him because his views did not align with theirs.
A message seeking comment was left with the university’s media relations office.
On an Instagram account that has since been suspended, Shenker scoffed at people’s practice, including his pronouns, listing his as “American / Patriot” and posted online attacks on Black Lives Matter, defended conspiracy theories and protested the use of masks and blockages to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, a protest group accused Shenker of interrupting a Black Lives Matter vigil near Mayor Bill de Blasio’s residence and turning it into a pro-Trump and anti-de Blasio “Chanukah Rave”. A video posted on social media showed a man who was allegedly Shenker threatening to send host Proud Boys and Infowars, Alex Jones, after a woman participated in the vigil.
Police said Tesla in Monday’s episode was found parked halfway to the circular driveway ramp, positioned in the center of the road in a way that prevented other vehicles from passing. The police said the husky looked fine.
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Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak