Colorado Lockdown Protester Accused of Making Pipe Bombs: Feds

LOVELAND, CO — A Colorado man made pipe bombs packed with explosives that he planned to use against law enforcement officers at a rally demanding that officials lift the state’s coronavirus restrictions, according to court documents.

Bradley Bunn, 53, was arrested Friday ahead of the rally after federal agents found four pipe bombs and components to make pipe bombs inside his Loveland home, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney for Colorado Jason Dunn.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local police raided Bunn’s home after getting a tip that he was “escalating to violence and that he had the means to commit violence,” according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Bunn told investigators the “pipe bombs were intended to be used as a defensive measure against law enforcement officers,” according to the affidavit.

After Bunn’s arrest, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned it had intercepted a message from a white supremacist group, including some of Bunn’s associates, that was “inciting followers to shoot through their doors at FBI agents and local law enforcement officers performing said raids.”

“Based on its review of online social media posts, the FBI understands this warning to pertain to associates of Mr. Bunn,” Dunn wrote in the affidavit.

Dunn wrote he was making the affidavit public to correct misinformation published online that Bunn’s due process rights had been violated. The names of federal agents and local police involved in Bunn’s arrest were redacted to protect them.

During Bunn’s arrest, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office warned residents of the area to remain in their homes.

The FBI also seized two 1-pound containers of .308-caliber cartridge reloading gunpowder in Bunn’s vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Dunn, the prosecutor, wrote in the affidavit that Bunn told the FBI in a post-Miranda warning interview that he’s a novice at making pipe bombs and picked up the materials for it at a sporting goods store.

Bunn said he planned to use the bombs in case police raided his home, according to the affidavit.

The pipe bombs were detonated at a gun range by bomb technicians. Each contained explosive materials, according to the affidavit.

Bunn faces charges of possession of destructive devices. If convicted, he faces a sentence of no more than 10 years in a federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.