The man suspected of setting fires in ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state is an experienced metalworker and may be planning additional attacks, authorities said Wednesday. Investigators believe the man who set the incendiary devices at ballot boxes in Portland, Oregon, and nearby Vancouver, Washington, had a "wealth of experience" in metal fabrication and welding, said Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner. The way the devices were constructed and the way they were attached to the metal drop boxes showed that expertise, Benner said, per the AP.
The incendiary devices were marked with the message "Free Gaza," a law enforcement official said. A third device placed at a different drop box in Vancouver earlier this month also carried the words "Free Palestine" in addition to "Free Gaza," the official said. Investigators are trying to identify the person responsible and the motive for the arson attacks, which destroyed or damaged hundreds of ballots at the drop box in Vancouver on Monday when the box's fire suppression system didn't work as intended. Authorities are trying to figure out whether the suspect actually had pro-Palestinian views or used the message to create confusion, according to the official.
Surveillance images captured a man driving up to a drop box in Portland just before security personnel discovered a fire inside the box on Monday, according to Benner. The early-morning fire was extinguished quickly thanks to the box's suppression system and a nearby security guard, police said. Just three of the ballots inside were damaged, per the AP. Election staff on Wednesday planned to sort through the damaged ballots for information about who cast them, in the hopes that those voters can be given replacement ballots. Authorities in Portland said Monday that enough material from the incendiary devices was recovered to show that the two fires were connected. Voters in Washington can check the status of their ballots at www.votewa.gov.
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