This report was published on February 15.
By William K. Rashbaum and William Neuman
A former teacher at a charter high school and his twin brother were arrested on Thursday on federal bomb-making charges, stockpiling more than 32 pounds of ingredients for explosives in a closet in their apartment in the Bronx, law enforcement officials said.
The teacher paid high school students $50 an hour to break apart fireworks to extract the explosive powder, authorities said.
Investigators also found diary writings referring to an “Operation Flash” and a purple index card that read, “Under the full moon the small ones will know terror,” according to officials and a criminal complaint filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
The teacher, Christian Toro, and his brother, Tyler Toro, both 27, appeared in federal court in Manhattan Thursday afternoon and were ordered held in custody.
Law enforcement officials “likely saved many, many lives,” in making the arrests, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at an 8 p.m. news conference at Police Headquarters. Officials at the news conference, however, did not provide any details about a possible motive, a target or any plans to explode a device.
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Mr. de Blasio said that investigators believed that there were no other people involved, adding, “There is no additional, imminent threat directed at New York City at this time.”
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Source: The New York City Mayor's Office and the New York Times
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