Former New York High School Teacher and His Brother Arrested for Building Explosives
The New York Times reported Thursday evening that a former Harlem high school teacher and his brother were arrested after a federal investigation into the two indicated an apparent effort to build and detonate explosive devices. The teacher, Christian Toro, reportedly paid his students $50 an hour to break fireworks and save the powder stored inside of them.
According to an NBC report, Christian and his brother, Tyler Toro, kept 30 pounds’ worth of “bomb-making materials” in the closet of a Bronx apartment they share together. Those included potassium nitrate, aluminum powder, iron oxide, confectioners’ sugar, and a bag of metal balls, which were intended for use as shrapnel in an explosive device.
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NBC also reported that the brothers had been gathering materials to make the explosives since October.
From the Times:
The complaint said that a diary found in the apartment contained writing that referred to the brothers as “Twin Toros.” “Strike us now,” they wrote, “we will return with nano-thermite.”
Law enforcement agents who searched the apartment on Wednesday found a yellow backpack that contained a purple index card with the handwritten words: “Under the full moon the small ones will know terror.”
The investigation reportedly began when Christian Toro resigned from his job at the high school; his brother returned the school-issued laptop, which contained an instruction manual for how to make homemade explosives.
Christian Toro was also arrested and charged on Jan. 31 with raping a minor.
Thursday evening, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there was “no imminent threat to New York City at this time.”