Man behind ballot box fires may be planning more attacks, police say

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and CLAIRE RUSH

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) — Suspected man set fire to ballot boxes A veteran metal worker who lives in Oregon and Washington states may have been planning other attacks, authorities said Wednesday.

Investigators believe the man who planted the incendiary devices at ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and nearby Vancouver, Washington, had “a wealth of experience” in metal fabrication and welding, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner said.

Benner said the way the devices are made and attached to metal drop boxes demonstrates this expertise.

Authorities announced that the suspect was a white man, aged 30-40, who was bald or had very short hair.

police said before Surveillance video was shown Man driving a black or dark colored 2001 to 2004 Volvo S-60. The vehicle did not have a front license plate, but its rear license plate had unknown letters or numbers.

The incendiary devices were marked with the message “Free Gaza” because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

A third device, placed in a different distribution box in Vancouver earlier this month, also bore the words “Free Palestine” as well as “Free Gaza,” the official said.

Investigators are trying to determine who is responsible and why the suspected arson attacks. Hundreds of ballots were destroyed or damaged Monday at a distribution box in Vancouver when the box’s fire suppression system did not work as intended. Authorities are trying to figure out whether the suspect truly holds pro-Palestinian views or is using the message to create confusion, according to the official.

Surveillance footage captured a Volvo pulling up to a delivery box in Portland on Monday just before nearby security personnel noticed a fire inside the box, Benner said. Police said the fire, which broke out in the early hours of the morning, was quickly extinguished thanks to the box’s extinguishing system and a nearby security guard. Only three of the ballot papers inside were damaged.

Greg Kimsey, the long-time elected auditor in Washington’s Clark County, which includes Vancouver, said there was also a fire extinguishing system inside the burning ballot box in Vancouver, but that system could not prevent hundreds of ballots from burning. The exact number of destroyed ballots is unknown and about 475 damaged ballots were removed from the ballot box, Kimsey said Tuesday.