Ohio man faces federal charge over pipe bomb
An Akron man CLEVELAND — arrested with a pipe bomb in August is now facing a federal charge.
Elijah Blankenship, 27, is charged with transporting explosive materials. Akron police officers found the pipe bomb and explosive materials in his car Aug. 16, authorities said.
Blankenship was arrested hours before a candlelight vigil for the victims of violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, but he never planned to use the pipe bomb at the vigil, FBI spokeswoman Vicki Anderson said Tuesday.
Anderson said she could not speak to what Blankenship’s plans were for the pipe bomb. Charging documents make no mention of the vigil.
Blankenship told police officers the devices were fireworks and that his friend owned the bag in which the explosive materials were stored, according to a police report.
Blankenship, who has previous misdemeanor and felony drug and weapons convictions, has been in jail on state charges since his arrest. A federal magistrate judge signed a warrant for his federal arrest Aug. 30, and Blankenship will make his initial appearance in federal court on Tuesday morning in Akron.
An affidavit filed by FBI agent Ryan Martin says Akron police knew him because of previous arrests for drugs and weapons.
Officers saw Blankenship, a transient who lives in his car, sitting in his car with the door open in a lot on Druid Walk, in the Park Lane Manor apartment complex, the affidavit states.
The officers approached and arrested Blankenship after Blankenship said he had a folding knife tucked in his waistband. They found what they believed to be methamphetamine, as well as a can of black explosive powder, a PVC pipe bomb with a fuse and a homemade firework, according to the FBI.
Authorities searched one of Blankenship’s cellphones and found conversations in his Facebook messenger.