Police say the mysterious ballot box arsonist may be planning more attacks and may reveal clues to his identity
- Officers assume that the arsonist is an experienced metal worker
The suspected arsonist behind a spate of ballot box fires could be planning more attacks ahead of the presidential election, police have warned.
It comes after ballot boxes were set on fire in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington.
Police said on Wednesday that the attacker started the fires using incendiary devices emblazoned with the words “Liberate Palestine” and “Liberate Gaza.”
They believe he had a “wealth of experience” in metalworking and welding, said Mike Benner, spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau.
Authorities describe the suspect as a white male, between 30 and 40 years old, who is bald or has very short hair.
Authorities working to extinguish a fire at a polling place in Vancouver, WA began early Monday morning. It was one of two fires at two ballot boxes in two separate states
Police previously said surveillance footage showed the man driving a black or dark-colored Volvo S-60 from 2001 to 2004.
The vehicle had no front license plate, but did have a rear license plate with unknown letters or numbers.
Investigators are trying to identify the person responsible and the motive for the suspected arsons in which hundreds of ballots were destroyed at one location in Vancouver, Washington on Monday.
The drop box fire suppression system did not work as intended.
Greg Kimsey, the elected auditor in Clark County, Washington, which includes Vancouver, said the exact number of destroyed ballots was not known and that about 475 damaged ballots had been removed from the box.
Authorities are trying to determine whether the person who left the devices actually had pro-Palestinian views or used the message to sow confusion.
Investigators are looking for a suspect vehicle, a black Volvo S-60, that was captured on security footage as the devices were left behind before detonating at the polls
Surveillance footage showed the Volvo driving to a mailbox in Portland just before nearby security personnel discovered a fire in the box on Monday, Benner said.
The early morning fire at the Portland drop box was quickly extinguished thanks to a fire suppression system in the box and a nearby security guard, police said.
Only three of the ballots inside were damaged.
Elections staff on Wednesday planned to search the damaged ballots for information about who cast them, hoping those voters can get replacement ballots.
An image released by the Portland Police Bureau shows the ballot box after an ‘incendiary device’ was discovered in the ballot box and caused a fire
Ballot boxes were set on fire by an unknown arsonist in the Pacific Northwest on Monday
Kimsey urged voters who left their ballots in the transit center box between Saturday morning and early Monday to contact his office for a replacement ballot.
Authorities in Portland said Monday that enough material from the incendiary devices had been recovered to prove the two fires were related.
They were also connected to an incendiary device left at another ballot box in Vancouver on October 8.
No ballots were damaged in that incident.