A Florida man has been arrested on suspicion of manufacturing a chemical powerful enough to blow up a neighbourhood block, used by terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and in the 2017 Manchester bombing.
Jared Coburn, 37, was arrested in Lake Helen, Florida, on Tuesday after police received a notice about explosive materials in his home, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office and local reports said, cited by NBC News.
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The police discovered jars filled with triacetone triperoxide, a white crystal powder colloquially known as the “Mother of Satan.” The substance was used in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, the 2015 Paris attacks and by “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid, who attempted to blow up a commercial airplane in 2001.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said Coburn claimed he was trying to make homemade fireworks. Chitwood also noted that Coburn was savvy enough to create the chemical and not blow himself up in the process. Coburn reportedly told police that his experience in manufacturing explosives was borne out of a passion for model rockets; he began to experiment with other types of explosives to make his models more exciting. Coburn said he used YouTube videos to “progress his knowledge,” the police report says.
“We're not going to be able to move this to our range to detonate. We're probably going to detonate it in a…
