An elderly man tried to bomb phone stores in a crusade to stop the spread of porn and 'cursing,' prosecutors say
- John Allen Douglas, 75, planted homemade explosives outside phone stores, Michigan court documents show.
- He also allegedly left threatening letters at cell towners across the state and demanded $5m.
- The letters demanded that network carriers stop telecommunications containing porn and other "immoral content."
An elderly man is accused of trying to bomb phone stores as part of his crusade to stop the spread of porn and other "immoral content," court documents show.
John Douglas Allen, 75, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the placement of explosive packages outside two phone stores in northern Michigan, the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan said in a press release.
Allen was allegedly caught on camera placing pipe bombs, inside USPS boxes, outside an AT&T store in Sault Ste Marie, and a Verizon store in Cheboygan last week, according to an affidavit seen by Insider. The homemade explosives were capable of causing property damage, personal injury, and/or death, the affidavit said.
The boxes, court documents show, were inscribed with messages indicating that this was the "last warning" and that "next time" it would be during business hours.
Allen also allegedly left threatening letters, placed inside a polka dot envelope and sealed in zip lock bags, at cell towers across the state, the affidavit said. The letters, which said they were from the "Coalition for Moral Telecommunication (CMT)," were addressed to AT&T, Verizon, and "all other carriers."
In the letters, the CMT claimed to be "almost thirty strong" and vowed to "travel throughout this Country and begin distroying [sic] inner city tower communication" unless several demands were met.
One demand was that all "telecommunication containing immoral content," including cursing and pornography, "must be stopped" within six months.
The letters also demanded the payment of $5 million within 180 days and warned that the price would "go up one hundred times" if these conditions weren't met.
Allen faces extortion and attempted destruction of buildings used in interstate commerce charges and could spend 40 years in prison if convicted.