Texas Man in Custody on Federal Arson Charges With Possible Eco-Terrorism Link
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Texas man was arrested this week on federal charges stemming from an arson at a construction site that may have ties to eco-terrorism, according to a criminal complaint.
Former California resident Stephen James Murphy was taken into custody at his home in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, said FBI Los Angeles director Keith Bolcar in a release about the arrest.
Murphy was named in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles charging him with the 2006 attempted arson of unfinished townhouses in Pasadena, Calif., according to Bolcar.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Sept. 19, 2006, the Pasadena Fire Department was called to the townhouse construction site after a "crude incendiary device" made out of cigarettes was discovered there, according to the complaint. The device failed to go off.
Construction workers couldn't start one of the tractors and noticed a message written in marker on the side that read, "ANOTHER TRACTOR DECOMMISSIONED BY THE E.L.F." — a reference to the Earth Liberation Front, an environmental extremist group.
The investigation later revealed that the ignition system of the tractor had been tampered with, according to the complaint.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Murphy was recently linked to DNA evidence collected at the scene from the cigarettes, the FBI said.