By Jim Leusner
The Orlando Sentinel
ORLANDO — The man accused of trying to carry bomb components onto a airplane at Orlando International Airport told investigators he going to blow up a tree stump in Jamaica, but later said he was going to show friends how to build explosives “like he saw in Iraq.”
Those details and a few others emerged today as a federal judge today ordered Kevin Brown, 32, temporarily held without bail during a brief hearing in Orlando this morning. He is charged with attempting to carry an explosive or incendiary device onto an aircraft.
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A federal complaint filed against Brown charged that he was carrying components for pipe bombs, two Vodka bottles filled with nitromethane, BB pellets, a rocket igniter, several batteries, lighter fluid and instructions on how to make explosives, according to FBI task force agent Kelly Boaz..
“Brown told us, among other things, that he bought the items in the baggage in Gainesville, Fla., and intended to use them to build a pipe bomb,” Boaz wrote. “Brown initially said he was going to detonate the device on a tree stump in Jamaica, but later told he was going to show friends how to build explosive devices like the kind he saw in Iraq.”
Boaz, who is an Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy and bomb technician assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, wrote that nitromethane in combination with the rocket igniter, acting as a wick, could have created an incendiary device.
Authorities said Brown, a Jamaican national who has lived in the Gainesville area before coming to Orlando, was stopped after officials said they saw him acting strangely when he entered the airport Tuesday, went to a ticket counter and later checked baggage for a trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
After Brown was detained by Orlando Police and Transportation Security Administration officials Tuesday, he was interviewed by Boaz and other federal agents. He waived his rights and told investigators he bought the materials in Gainesville and intended to build a pipe bomb.
Although the FBI says Brown lived in Gainesville recently, the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper today reported on its Web site that Brown was living in the Ocala area. They quote his sister-in-law saying, “He takes medicine and acts outside the norm, depending on how it affects him.”
U.S. Magistrate Karla Spaulding ordered Brown held without bail. She will continue the hearing Thursday afternoon when she will consider bond in the case.
Spaulding started today’s hearing by criticizing federal authorities for not notifying her of the arrest. She said she learned of the arrest in the Orlando Sentinel today and was outraged that the media and U.S. Rep. John Mica had been notified before she had been.
Spaulding complained that several arrests by the FBI for incidents relating to passengers involving drunk and disorderly conduct had resulted in defendants sent to pre-trial diversion programs instead of the courts.
“This court requires notification in the future,” Spaulding said of future airport arrests.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Citro apologized but said Brown was not arrested by federal authorities until late Tuesday night.
Brown’s court-appointed lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender Clarence Counts, said he wanted to proceed with the hearing today, but Citro said prosecutors needed more time to sort out information about the suspect, including his “mental-health status” and records with the Veterans Administration.
It is not known yet whether Brown is a veteran or what he meant by showing his friends how to make bombs “like he saw in Iraq.”
Brown wore a white Seminole County Jail jumpsuit throughout the proceedings. He calmly read the charges against him and sat quietly throughout the hearing. A tall and lanky man with a beard, his legs were shackled underneath the defense table.
According to the Associated Press, Air Jamaica executive director Shirley Williams said the items could not have caused an explosion and the aircraft and its passengers were never at risk.
Jamaica’s prime minister has ordered the Jamaica Constabulary Force to conduct is own investigation into Brown’s activities in that country.
Copyright 2008 The Orlando Sentinel