NYC man accused of throwing explosives off Williamsburg Bridge faces federal charges
Michael Gann is accused of making at least seven explosives, and throwing some off the Williamsburg Bridge into the East River, between May and June of this year.
The 55-year-old man from Inwood was charged with attempted destruction of property by means of explosives, transportation of explosive materials and unlawful possession of destructive devices, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced Tuesday.
Prosecutors say Gann set off an explosive on June 5 near the East River and the FDR Drive, and the blast apparently frightened him. According to the indictment, he told investigators he started to consider getting rid of the devices, either by throwing them into the river or by handing them over to the FDNY.
He is accused of throwing three devices from the Manhattan side of the Williamsburg Bridge, two of them landing in the water and one landing on subway tracks.
The indictment reveals he allegedly stored the explosives on rooftops of SoHo apartments, where investigators also found 30 grams of explosive powder -- more than 600 times the legal limit for consumer fireworks. Prosecutors say they found another device in his bag, and one in his pocket.
According to the indictment, he told law enforcement he was trying to make pyrotechnics and learned how to do it online.
Prosecutors say Gann has 30 prior arrests, including 28 convictions. CBS News New York reached out to his attorneys for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs is denied release on bond to await sentencing
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean 'Diddy' Combs can't go home from jail to await sentencing on his prostitution-related conviction, a judge said Monday, denying the rap and style mogul's latest bid for bail. Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He faced federal charges of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fueled sex marathons with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them. He was acquitted last month of the top charges — racketeering and sex trafficking — while being convicted of two counts of a prostitution-related offense. In denying Combs' $50 million bond proposal, Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip hop impresario had failed to prove that he did not pose a risk of flight or danger, adding that the record did not show an 'exceptional circumstance' that would justify his release after a conviction that otherwise requires detention. Combs' arguments 'might have traction in a case that didn't involve evidence of violence, coercion, or subjugation in connection with the acts of prostitution at issue, but the record here contains evidence of all three,' the judge wrote. Messages seeking comment were sent to prosecutors and one of Combs' lawyers. The conviction carries the potential for up to 10 years in prison. But there are complicated federal guidelines for calculating sentences in any given case, and prosecutors and Combs' lawyers disagree substantially on how the guidelines come out for his case. The guidelines aren't mandatory, and Subramanian will have wide latitude in deciding Combs' punishment. The Bad Boy Records founder, now 55, was for decades a protean figure in pop culture. A Grammy-winning hip hop artist and entrepreneur with a flair for finding and launching big talents, he presided over a business empire that ranged from fashion to reality TV. Prosecutors claimed he used his fame, wealth and violence to force and manipulate two now-ex-girlfriends into days-long, drugged-up sexual performances he called 'freak-offs' or 'hotel nights.' His lawyers argued that the government tried to criminalize consensual, if unconventional, sexual tastes that played out in complicated relationships. The defense acknowledged that Combs had violent outbursts but said nothing he did came amounted to the crimes with which he was charged. Since the verdict, his lawyers have repeatedly renewed their efforts to get him out on bail until his sentencing, set for October. They have argued that the acquittals undercut the rationale for holding him, and they have pointed to other people who were released before sentencing on similar convictions. Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo suggested in a court filing that Combs was the United States' 'only person in jail for hiring adult male escorts for him and his girlfriend.' The defense's most recent proposal included the $50 million bond, plus travel restrictions, and expressed openness to adding on house arrest at his Miami home, electronic monitoring, private security guards and other requirements. Prosecutors opposed releasing Combs. They wrote that his 'extensive history of violence — and his continued attempt to minimize his recent violent conduct — demonstrates his dangerousness and that he is not amendable to supervision.' ___ Associated Press writer Jake Offenhartz contributed from Los Angeles.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Eight commuters hurt as bear spray is unleashed on crowded Manhattan subway car
Four people were hospitalized and four others treated at the scene after someone released bear spray inside a subway car in Manhattan on Sunday night. The incident happened just after 9:30 p.m. on a southbound No. 4 train at the 14th Street–Union Square subway station. Officers arrived to find eight people affected by a substance that had been sprayed inside the subway car, according to the New York City Police Department. Four people were transported to Lenox Hill Hospital, police said. They are in stable condition. Four others were treated at the scene. Police are searching for a suspect described as a man in his 30s wearing a camouflage ski mask, NBC4 reported. Witnesses told police the man fled upstairs and out of the station after spraying the irritant, which police reportedly told the local outlet was bear spray. Video shared on the Citizen app showed a heavy police presence at the scene. Subway service was briefly disrupted as emergency crews responded to the incident. No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing, police said. The incident comes just over a month after six people were hurt in June when someone used bear spray inside Washington Square Park, CBS News reported. That person was taken into custody.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Former DOJ Trump ‘loyalty test' prosecutors are planning to run for office and fight back
At this time last year, Ryan Crosswell was hard at work trying to put New York City's mayor in prison on corruption charges while serving as a prosecutor in the Justice Department. But after resigning in protest over the Trump administration's decision to drop the case against Mayor Eric Adams and cut back on prosecutions of public corruption cases, he's looking at a switching careers to making laws instead of enforcing them. According to CBS News, Crosswell, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, left the department in February amid the uproar over the dropping of charges against Adams, a move which at the time was framed as a way to enable the mayor to better assist the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts. Four months later, he announced a campaign for the House of Representatives seat for Pennsylvania's seventh district against Republican Ryan Mackenzie, telling the television network: "If you're a Marine and you're a former prosecutor, you are protecting people." Crosswell is just one of a number of ex-federal prosecutors looking to continue public service careers by seeking election to various offices across the United States. The former prosecutors all have one thing in common — they left federal service in the tumultuous opening months of the Trump administration amid what have been described as loyalty tests as a condition of remaining in the government. Erika Evans, the granddaughter of Olympic track-and-field medalist Lee Evans, left the Department of Justice in March on account of the changes made to the Civil Rights Division under Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon. Dhillon, a longtime GOP activist, has made it a priority to refocus the division away from protecting racial minorities towards pushing back on alleged anti-white discrimination. Evans told CBS she resigned after receiving emails asking for DOJ employees to report colleagues involved in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work that the Trump administration has banned. "We received emails requiring that we report any colleagues doing diversity work in the office. We had 10 to 14 days to report them or we would get in trouble ourselves," Evans said. "That was pretty disgusting." Now, she's looking to resume her public service career as Seattle's elected City Attorney. In a video released by her campaign, she says she'll 'take on Trump' if elected and 'demand the community safety we deserve' from the federal government. She explained how she'd wanted to spend her career in public service but felt she had to leave because of the Trump administration's priorities. "When I realized that that was not going to be possible any longer with the values that the Trump administration was having for the department, I knew I needed to shift,' she said.
