A man was federally charged for attempting to enter the Sacramento International Airport with an explosive device that could have potentially damaged an aircraft, according to the Department of Justice.
Federal agents were alerted about 9 p.m. on May 30 after Kimani Osayande Jones, 49, of Sacramento, was caught allegedly passing through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint with the explosive device, a torch lighter, a knife, scissors and scissor blades, an aerosol can, zip ties and five cell phones in his carry-on bag.
On June 2, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California, officially charged Jones with unlawfully possessing explosive material in an airport, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Grant’s press release.
TSA PreCheck passengers enter the security area at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, on Friday, July 26, 2024.
When he was stopped by TSA agents, the man was wearing a scarf, which covered his face, and latex gloves on his hands. When law enforcement agents searched his cellphones, they found that one of the phones had a 15-minute timer ready to start, and the other contained a message that stated, “We will be awaiting your call,” according to Grant.
Jones was promptly arrested by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, as the department’s bomb technicians and an FBI special agent bomb technician safely removed the explosive device from the airport.
At a different site, bomb technicians examined and tested the device, the powder and the fuse, determining that it was “viable and energetic.”
“The explosive device had the potential to cause injury and, if the explosive device had detonated next to a window on a pressurized aircraft flying above 10,000 feet, it had the potential to damage the aircraft and cause a possible loss of cabin pressure,” reads the press release from U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California.
Meghan McLoughlin, Jones’s public defender, told the Associated Press that “there is often more to these cases than the government’s allegations, and that the criminal process will reveal” her client’s story as well.
If Jones is convicted of the crime, he could potentially face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Noe Padilla is a Northern California Reporter for USA Today. Contact him at npadilla@usatodayco.com, follow him on X @1NoePadilla or on Bluesky @noepadilla.bsky.social. Sign up for the TODAY Californian newsletter or follow us on Facebook at TODAY Californian.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California man charged for taking explosive to Sacramento airport