by Larry Neumeister, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - A demonstrator arrested while protesting the World Economic Forum was held Monday on charges that he posted information about bomb making and weapons of mass destruction on the Internet.
Sherman Austin, 18, of Sherman Oaks, Calif., was detained pending a Thursday bail hearing after a brief court appearance in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. His lawyer, Susan Tipograph, declined to comment, as did prosecutors.
Austin was arrested Saturday by city police officers, who found Austin carrying a gas mask, a black mask and a lighter, among other things, according to an FBI affidavit
On Monday, charges were filed against Austin in federal court in Los Angeles. A criminal complain alleged he posted information on his Internet Web site since the beginning of this year relating to making and using explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction.
The complaint said that a Jan. 24 search of Austin’s bedroom found one fully functional molotov cocktail, among other items.
In an affidavit, FBI Special Agent John I. Pi said the criminal complaint accuses Austin of distributing the information about explosives so arson could be carried out.
He also was charged with possessing an unregistered firearm.
In his affidavit, the agent accused Austin of urging others to stop the World Economic Forum through violence with weapons including slingshots, boomerangs, Molotov cocktails, smoke bombs and pipe bombs.
“Homemade explosives work very well in riots,” the affidavit accused Austin of saying on his Web site.
According to the affidavit, a search of Austin’s bedroom also produced two glass bottles containing petroleum-based products, a gasoline tank, four boxes containing 63 glass bottles and five plastic bottles and a radio remote-triggering detonation device.
After his arrest, the teen-ager told police that the FBI had already visited his home outside Los Angeles and had taken several items, the affidavit said.
After learning that Austin had traveled to New York in a car from the West Coast, officers searched the 1981 Toyota, finding personal documents, a gasoline container, anarchist literature, electrical wire, a funnel and a roll of tape, the court documents alleged.
The affidavit also said Austin was arrested last May 1 during a violent demonstration in Long Beach, Calif. It said the case was ongoing.
Austin was among 201 people arrested during the conference, which ended Monday in Manhattan. Most of the others charged faced minor offenses such as disorderly conduct.