A man from Toronto was arrested in Seattle last week after he directed bomb threats towards a U.S. Senator on social media.
According to Komo News, a Seattle media outlet, Louis Bernabe, 29, of Toronto, flew to the U.S. recently and stayed in a hotel blocks from Sen. Patty Murray’s office.
Komo News reports, citing court documents, that Bernabe has no residence in Seattle. On Sept. 10, an Instagram account purportedly belonging to the Toronto man shared stories detailing his intentions to bomb Sen. Murray’s car. He also allegedly shared a selfie of himself near her Seattle office.
“Senator Murray, I am warning you ONCE AND FOR ALL. Quit your trashy play of partisan nonsense AT ONCE, or I swear to God, I WILL have you check the undercarriage of your car every single day to ensure you don’t get BLOWN UP to pieces,” the Instagram post read, in part.
Bernabe mentioned that he hadn’t seen his girlfriend in five years and wrote, “We have the right to be in [a] couple and reproduce if we choose to.”
“If you deny us this right, you are nothing more than a nasty animal. In this case, I will condone whoever decides to put you down. Rabid creatures should be put to death,” the post read.
Sen. Murray was not harmed.
Bernabe was reportedly taken into custody shortly after uploading a photo of him near Sen. Murray’s office. According to court documents, the Toronto man was initially held on $50,000 USD bail before it was eventually raised to $250,000 USD.
CityNews has reached out to the Toronto Police Service (TPS) for comment.