The WiZard is In - 17-8-2011 at 07:26
Spain: Student plotted attack on anti-Pope crowd
17viii11
By DANIEL WOOLLS - Associated Press
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Police said in a statement released Tuesday night that officers
who searched the detainee's apartment in a wealthy district of
Madrid seized an external hard-drive and two notebooks with
chemical equations that had nothing to do with his studies.
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MADRID (AP) — A young chemistry student working as a
volunteer to prepare a visit by the pope to Madrid has been
arrested on suspicion of planning a gas attack targeting
protesters opposed to the pontiff's stay, officials said
Wednesday.
Pope Benedict XVI is due to arrive Thursday for a nearly four
-day visit to celebrate World Youth Day, and a protest march
was scheduled for Wednesday evening in Madrid.
A police official said the suspect arrested in the capital on
Tuesday is a 24-year-old Mexican student specializing in
organic chemistry. She would not say whether investigators
believe the man was actually capable of carrying out a gas
attack, and did not know if the man actually had chemicals for
one.
He was arrested at a Madrid convention center where the
hundreds of thousands of pilgrims coming to town for the papal
visit are supposed to pick up their accreditation, the police
official said on condition of anonymity in line with the
department's rules.
An official with the visit's organizing committee said the Mexican
was a volunteer working to help deal with the massive flow of
people coming to Madrid. The official would not give her name,
citing the church-run committee's policy.
A total of 30,000 people from around the world are taking part
in that organizing effort, 10,000 police are providing security in
Madrid and organizers say they expect more than 1 million
young pilgrims for World Youth Day, which started Tuesday and
runs through Sunday.
The Mexican Embassy identified the detainee as Jose Perez
Bautista and said he was from Puebla state, near Mexico City.
Police have 72 hours from the time of the arrest to bring the
detainee before a judge at the National Court for questioning or
to release him. A court official said he would appear before the
judge Thursday at the earliest.
The official — speaking on condition of anonymity in line with
court policy — said the detainee had been making threats over
the Internet against people in Spain opposed to the pope's
visit, and police who'd been monitoring his online activity
ultimately decided to arrest him as the visit approached.
Police said in a statement released Tuesday night that officers
who searched the detainee's apartment in a wealthy district of
Madrid seized an external hard-drive and two notebooks with
chemical equations that had nothing to do with his studies.
It said he tried to recruit people via the Internet to help him,
and that a computer allegedly used for this purpose was among
objects seized by police.
The man had planned to attack anti-Pope protesters
with "suffocating gases" and other chemicals, the statement
said. But it did not mention police having confiscated chemicals
that could be used in an attack.
Mexican Embassy spokesman Bernardo Graue said consular
officials had visited Perez Bautista in prison and described him
as "relaxed" and in good physical condition as he waits to go
before a judge. The Mexican officials did not ask him if he had
in fact planned a gas attack, because interrogating him is up to
Spanish authorities, Graue said.
Without knowing what chemicals and delivery system the man
may have had, it is impossible to know what harm he could
have caused on protesters marching in open air through the
streets of Madrid, as will happen Wednesday evening, said
Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at the Swedish National
Defence College in Stockholm.
The suspect was in Madrid studying with Spain's top
government research body, the Spanish National Research
Council, and his office there was searched, the police statement
said. The council confirmed the arrest but gave no immediate
details on the Mexican.
Mexico's Autonomous University of Puebla confirmed that a man
with the same name had completed an undergraduate degree
in chemistry in 2009 and had expressed interest in doing
graduate work in Spain.
"Both the name and the academic background match," said
Rafael Hernandez Oropeza, the university's director of
international relations. He said Perez Bautista had an 8.6 grade
average out of 10, "which is pretty high."
He said the university had neither arranged the man's
enrollment or any scholarship for study in Spain and was
checking with the country's national science and technology
council to see if it had done so.
Church organizers say the papal visit is costing about euro50
million ($72 million) to stage. Protesters complain the
government is essentially spending taxpayers' money on the
visit by granting tax breaks to corporate sponsors and perks
such as discount subway and bus tickets for pilgrims.
KNO3me - 29-9-2011 at 23:06
All that fussing over of a couple of equations?
Those people have too much time on their hands.
Takron - 9-11-2011 at 15:47
It wouldn't have been a problem if he wasn't openly threatening online and trying to recruit people.
hissingnoise - 10-11-2011 at 02:17
Yes, this has nothing to do with curiosity, chemical or otherwise, and everything to do with murderous fascism driven by religious fanaticism!
I hope the fuck stays in prison for a looong time!
IrC - 10-11-2011 at 16:48
I agree he brought this on himself. What also bothers me is far too many like him bring this on all of the rest of us who really were in it for the
pure joy of experimenting/learning.