Jolie Rouge
01-22-2008, 03:14 PM
Bomb factory at Columbia University professor’s home
January 22, 2008 10:03 AM
The NY Daily News reports today on a disturbing discovery at a Columbia University instructor’s home:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/01/21/2008-01-21_bombmaking_factory_found_in_brooklyn_apa-3.html
Police stumbled upon a bomb-making factory Sunday in the home of a Columbia professor who specializes in the spread of infectious disease - and are investigating whether he and his roommate have terror ties.
Cops evacuated the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood around the Remsen St. home of Michael Clatts, a medical anthropologist, after finding seven pipe bombs fitted with fuses in his flat, police sources said.
The frightening cache was discovered almost by accident - Ivaylo Ivanov, the man living with Clatts, accidentally shot off the tip of his left index finger and sought police help in the street about 1:15 a.m.
When investigators went to the 37-year-old Ivanov’s apartment, they found the bombs, already capped on both ends and filled with powder. One of the pipe bombs was inserted into a Nerf football, cops said.
A 9-mm. handgun, two ammunition magazines, a 12-gauge shotgun, silencers, a bulletproof vest, a crossbow and bomb-making equipment, including a drill and threading machine that could be used to make pipe bombs, were also recovered, cops said.
Clatts cannot be located. Who is he?
Sunday night, police were seeking additional search warrants, possibly for computers, other electronic devices and papers and books.
Ivanov was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, unlawful wearing of a body vest and reporting a false incident, cops said. He was expected to be arraigned this morning.
Police were also looking to question Clatts, 50, the Columbia University instructor living with Ivanov, a source told The News.
Alan Brasunas, a co-op board member at the 58 Remsen St. brownstone, confirmed Clatts owned the apartment and lived there with Ivanov
"One has to assume Michael must have seen something at one point," Brasunas said. "It's not a huge apartment."
He said he interviewed Clatts before he was allowed to buy the fourth-floor unit.
"We obviously have concerns about both people," said Brasunas, who called the professor a "quiet, reserved person."
Clatts is a medical anthropologist with a specialty in epidemiol.ogy - the spread of disease among large populations.
He is an associate professor in Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and holds a Ph.D. from the Ivy League school.
The senior director of communication for the school, Randee Levine, said she cannot comment on a police investigation.
Clatts’ exact relationship with Ivanov is unknown. Building residents said Clatts once described himself and Ivanov as roommates, nothing more.
Cops became suspicious of Ivanov because he first claimed he had been shot by a stranger but then admitted shooting himself. Fearing another person had been injured at the address, police went to the apartment and opened the door to the bomb factory. They immediately sealed the apartment while they got a search warrant, cops said.
Cops called the bomb squad, which evacuated the building and three others nearby and removed the materials. Residents were not allowed back inside for nearly 12 hours.
Police said last night they were uncertain whether all of the bombs were operative.
Ivanov has prior arrests for possession of drug paraphernalia, including hypodermic needles, a police source said. A man with the same name was deported from the U.S. a couple of years ago for drug dealing, but cops are unsure whether this is the same person, a police source said.
The NYTimes reports on a bizarre twist in the case: Ivanov has confessed to a string of anti-Jewish vandalism incidents last fall. Ivanov, his lawyer told the media, is himself Jewish. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/nyregion/22arrest.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
Weapons Trove Suspect Is Linked to Hate Crimes
By FERNANDA SANTOS and KAREEM FAHIM
Published: January 22, 2008
It all happened in less than three hours on a cool September night — a prolific spurt of anti-Jewish vandalism at more than a dozen locations in the heart of Brooklyn Heights.
On Monday, the police caught a break, arresting a man who they said had a trove of weapons inside a stately apartment building in the neighborhood. The man, Ivaylo Ivanov, admitted under videotaped questioning that he was behind the spree, which had mystified investigators for months, the police said.
And later Monday evening, after Mr. Ivanov’s arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court, his lawyer surprised reporters with his own announcement: Mr. Ivanov is himself Jewish.
The revelation was the latest twist in a bizarre story that features a man who, police said, shot his own finger; a sizable weapons collection, including pipe bombs and a sawed-off shotgun, found in an apartment in one of Brooklyn’s most exclusive neighborhoods; and a prominent H.I.V./AIDS researcher and medical anthropologist, who owns the apartment.
The hate crimes had unsettled local residents, many of whom awoke on the morning of Sept. 25 to find swastikas and other slurs scratched, scrawled and spray-painted on cars, playgrounds, synagogues and building facades. Crude fliers reading “Kill All Jews” were strewn about.
At one point, 20 detectives were assigned to investigate the case, and though they zeroed in on a suspect almost from the start, there was not enough evidence to charge him.
According to a police official, Mr. Ivanov said his acts of vandalism were a result of “bad judgment” and “rage.”
In addition to the charges of weapons possession, Mr. Ivanov was arraigned on four charges of criminal mischief and five charges of aggravated assault. Two counts of each charge are considered hate crimes.
Adrian Lesher, a lawyer appointed to represent Mr. Ivanov, said at the arraignment that his client “basically led police to the apartment in a situation that was almost calculated.” The judge, John Wilson, set bail at $150,000 cash or a $300,000 bond, and ordered Mr. Ivanov to surrender his passport.
Mr. Lesher declined to answer questions after the arraignment, but did say, “I can tell you he’s Jewish.” He would not comment further.
Upon hearing that Mr. Ivanov was said to be Jewish, Aaron L. Raskin, the rabbi of Congregation B’Nai Avraham, one of the desecrated synagogues, was skeptical.
“Is his mother Jewish or is his father Jewish?” the rabbi asked, adding that to be “biblically Jewish,” Mr. Ivanov would have to have a Jewish mother.
“If he is Jewish, then he really needs to see a rabbi,” Rabbi Raskin said. Still, he said that he would ask his congregants to pray for Mr. Ivanov “to strengthen the unity of the neighborhood.”
The relationship between Mr. Ivanov and the owner of his apartment at 58 Remsen Street, Michael C. Clatts, remained unclear on Monday. Mr. Clatts, 50, could not be located, and some who have worked with him said they had no idea who Mr. Ivanov was.
Mr. Clatts’s colleagues at the National Development and Research Institutes, a nonprofit group based in Manhattan, were disbelieving that he could have any connection with wrongdoing. The police said they did not know of any link between Mr. Clatts and Mr. Ivanov’s weapons.
“This does not fit with my knowledge of him,” Don C. Des Jarlais, a research fellow at the agency, said of Mr. Clatts. “He’s an anthropologist.”
The police had also not reached Mr. Clatts as of Monday night. He directs the organization’s Institute for International Research on Youth at Risk and is believed to be traveling, one official said. He could be in Puerto Rico, where he is a university professor, or in Vietnam, where he is conducting research on H.I.V. risk among young intravenous drug users, according to a colleague.
Much less is known about Mr. Ivanov. In court, his lawyer said that Mr. Ivanov is a linguist. The authorities are not sure of his age, saying he is either 37 or 31 years old. Mr. Ivanov told the police that he was born in Sicily and raised in Bulgaria, and that he had been trained by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad. He has been arrested in the past on charges that included petty larceny, according to the police, but the disposition of those cases was not available. It was not clear how long he had been living at 58 Remsen Street, but neighbors said they recalled seeing him more than they saw Mr. Clatts.
Roberta Weisbrod, who lives in the building next door, said Mr. Ivanov “was always around walking the dog, all the time.”
January 22, 2008 10:03 AM
The NY Daily News reports today on a disturbing discovery at a Columbia University instructor’s home:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/01/21/2008-01-21_bombmaking_factory_found_in_brooklyn_apa-3.html
Police stumbled upon a bomb-making factory Sunday in the home of a Columbia professor who specializes in the spread of infectious disease - and are investigating whether he and his roommate have terror ties.
Cops evacuated the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood around the Remsen St. home of Michael Clatts, a medical anthropologist, after finding seven pipe bombs fitted with fuses in his flat, police sources said.
The frightening cache was discovered almost by accident - Ivaylo Ivanov, the man living with Clatts, accidentally shot off the tip of his left index finger and sought police help in the street about 1:15 a.m.
When investigators went to the 37-year-old Ivanov’s apartment, they found the bombs, already capped on both ends and filled with powder. One of the pipe bombs was inserted into a Nerf football, cops said.
A 9-mm. handgun, two ammunition magazines, a 12-gauge shotgun, silencers, a bulletproof vest, a crossbow and bomb-making equipment, including a drill and threading machine that could be used to make pipe bombs, were also recovered, cops said.
Clatts cannot be located. Who is he?
Sunday night, police were seeking additional search warrants, possibly for computers, other electronic devices and papers and books.
Ivanov was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, unlawful wearing of a body vest and reporting a false incident, cops said. He was expected to be arraigned this morning.
Police were also looking to question Clatts, 50, the Columbia University instructor living with Ivanov, a source told The News.
Alan Brasunas, a co-op board member at the 58 Remsen St. brownstone, confirmed Clatts owned the apartment and lived there with Ivanov
"One has to assume Michael must have seen something at one point," Brasunas said. "It's not a huge apartment."
He said he interviewed Clatts before he was allowed to buy the fourth-floor unit.
"We obviously have concerns about both people," said Brasunas, who called the professor a "quiet, reserved person."
Clatts is a medical anthropologist with a specialty in epidemiol.ogy - the spread of disease among large populations.
He is an associate professor in Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and holds a Ph.D. from the Ivy League school.
The senior director of communication for the school, Randee Levine, said she cannot comment on a police investigation.
Clatts’ exact relationship with Ivanov is unknown. Building residents said Clatts once described himself and Ivanov as roommates, nothing more.
Cops became suspicious of Ivanov because he first claimed he had been shot by a stranger but then admitted shooting himself. Fearing another person had been injured at the address, police went to the apartment and opened the door to the bomb factory. They immediately sealed the apartment while they got a search warrant, cops said.
Cops called the bomb squad, which evacuated the building and three others nearby and removed the materials. Residents were not allowed back inside for nearly 12 hours.
Police said last night they were uncertain whether all of the bombs were operative.
Ivanov has prior arrests for possession of drug paraphernalia, including hypodermic needles, a police source said. A man with the same name was deported from the U.S. a couple of years ago for drug dealing, but cops are unsure whether this is the same person, a police source said.
The NYTimes reports on a bizarre twist in the case: Ivanov has confessed to a string of anti-Jewish vandalism incidents last fall. Ivanov, his lawyer told the media, is himself Jewish. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/nyregion/22arrest.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
Weapons Trove Suspect Is Linked to Hate Crimes
By FERNANDA SANTOS and KAREEM FAHIM
Published: January 22, 2008
It all happened in less than three hours on a cool September night — a prolific spurt of anti-Jewish vandalism at more than a dozen locations in the heart of Brooklyn Heights.
On Monday, the police caught a break, arresting a man who they said had a trove of weapons inside a stately apartment building in the neighborhood. The man, Ivaylo Ivanov, admitted under videotaped questioning that he was behind the spree, which had mystified investigators for months, the police said.
And later Monday evening, after Mr. Ivanov’s arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court, his lawyer surprised reporters with his own announcement: Mr. Ivanov is himself Jewish.
The revelation was the latest twist in a bizarre story that features a man who, police said, shot his own finger; a sizable weapons collection, including pipe bombs and a sawed-off shotgun, found in an apartment in one of Brooklyn’s most exclusive neighborhoods; and a prominent H.I.V./AIDS researcher and medical anthropologist, who owns the apartment.
The hate crimes had unsettled local residents, many of whom awoke on the morning of Sept. 25 to find swastikas and other slurs scratched, scrawled and spray-painted on cars, playgrounds, synagogues and building facades. Crude fliers reading “Kill All Jews” were strewn about.
At one point, 20 detectives were assigned to investigate the case, and though they zeroed in on a suspect almost from the start, there was not enough evidence to charge him.
According to a police official, Mr. Ivanov said his acts of vandalism were a result of “bad judgment” and “rage.”
In addition to the charges of weapons possession, Mr. Ivanov was arraigned on four charges of criminal mischief and five charges of aggravated assault. Two counts of each charge are considered hate crimes.
Adrian Lesher, a lawyer appointed to represent Mr. Ivanov, said at the arraignment that his client “basically led police to the apartment in a situation that was almost calculated.” The judge, John Wilson, set bail at $150,000 cash or a $300,000 bond, and ordered Mr. Ivanov to surrender his passport.
Mr. Lesher declined to answer questions after the arraignment, but did say, “I can tell you he’s Jewish.” He would not comment further.
Upon hearing that Mr. Ivanov was said to be Jewish, Aaron L. Raskin, the rabbi of Congregation B’Nai Avraham, one of the desecrated synagogues, was skeptical.
“Is his mother Jewish or is his father Jewish?” the rabbi asked, adding that to be “biblically Jewish,” Mr. Ivanov would have to have a Jewish mother.
“If he is Jewish, then he really needs to see a rabbi,” Rabbi Raskin said. Still, he said that he would ask his congregants to pray for Mr. Ivanov “to strengthen the unity of the neighborhood.”
The relationship between Mr. Ivanov and the owner of his apartment at 58 Remsen Street, Michael C. Clatts, remained unclear on Monday. Mr. Clatts, 50, could not be located, and some who have worked with him said they had no idea who Mr. Ivanov was.
Mr. Clatts’s colleagues at the National Development and Research Institutes, a nonprofit group based in Manhattan, were disbelieving that he could have any connection with wrongdoing. The police said they did not know of any link between Mr. Clatts and Mr. Ivanov’s weapons.
“This does not fit with my knowledge of him,” Don C. Des Jarlais, a research fellow at the agency, said of Mr. Clatts. “He’s an anthropologist.”
The police had also not reached Mr. Clatts as of Monday night. He directs the organization’s Institute for International Research on Youth at Risk and is believed to be traveling, one official said. He could be in Puerto Rico, where he is a university professor, or in Vietnam, where he is conducting research on H.I.V. risk among young intravenous drug users, according to a colleague.
Much less is known about Mr. Ivanov. In court, his lawyer said that Mr. Ivanov is a linguist. The authorities are not sure of his age, saying he is either 37 or 31 years old. Mr. Ivanov told the police that he was born in Sicily and raised in Bulgaria, and that he had been trained by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad. He has been arrested in the past on charges that included petty larceny, according to the police, but the disposition of those cases was not available. It was not clear how long he had been living at 58 Remsen Street, but neighbors said they recalled seeing him more than they saw Mr. Clatts.
Roberta Weisbrod, who lives in the building next door, said Mr. Ivanov “was always around walking the dog, all the time.”