BOSTON — An Oklahoma man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to throwing a pipe bomb at The Satanic Temple in Salem on April 8, 2024, the U.S. Attorney said.
Sean Patrick Palmer, 49, of Perkins, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to one count of using an explosive device to damage and attempt to damage a building used in interstate or foreign commerce, U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in a statement on Thursday.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for June 12.
Palmer was indicted by a federal grand jury in May 2024. He was charged by criminal complaint and arrested on April 17, 2024 in Perkins, Oklahoma.
The Satanic Temple is a non-theistic religious organization headquartered in Salem.
According to the charging documents, at approximately 4:14 a.m. on April 8, 2024, surveillance cameras captured a man, subsequently identified as Palmer, walking towards the temple wearing a black face covering, a tan-colored tactical vest and gloves.
As Palmer approached The Satanic Temple, he ignited a pipe bomb – a type of improvised explosive device or “IED” – threw it at the temple’s main entrance, and then ran away, prosecutors said.
The pipe bomb caused a minor fire and damage to the building’s exterior.
According to the charging documents, the pipe bomb was constructed from a roughly two-foot section of plastic pipe covered with metal nails attached to the pipe with duct tape. The inside of the pipe was filled with smokeless gunpowder.
During the investigation, Palmer’s DNA was found on the outside of the IED, prosecutors said.
A six-page handwritten note was found in a flower bed adjacent to The Satanic Temple, near the area where Palmer threw the IED, Foley said. Among other things, the letter stated:
“DEAR SATANIST
ELOHIM SEND ME 7 MONTHS AGO TO GIVE YOU PEACEFUL MESSAGE TO HOPE YOU REPENT. YOU SAY NO, ELOHIM NOW SEND ME TO SMITE SATAN AND I HAPPY TO OBEY. AND ELOHIM WANT ME TO CONTACT YOU TO TELL YOU REPENT. TURN FROM SIN. ELOHIM NO LIKE THIS PLACE AND PLAN TO DESTROY IT. MAYBE SALEM TOO? ELOHIM SEND ME TO FIGHT CRYBABY SATAN, BUT WANT ME TO MAKE HARD EFFORT SO NOONE DIES. I OBEY.”
For the charge of using fire or an explosive to cause damage to a building used in interstate or foreign commerce, Palmer faces a sentence of at least five years and up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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