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Rock Talk, Vol. IX
More on the two men involved in Wednesday's explosion at an apartment complex in Texas City: KHOU reports that unnamed sources say they might have belonged to a small local anarchist group. According to Channel 11, 21-year-old Matthew Rugo, who died in the explosion, and his roommate, 21-year-old Curtis Jetton, were said to comprise half the four-member group. The other two members, both women, reportedly told investigators about their affiliation.
As blogHouston notes, reports of the explosion have evolved somewhat since Wednesday afternoon. This early story from KTRH said the blast was the result of "an experiment with liquid chemicals", but noted that police dismissed the idea that it was terrorism-related almost immediately. But by yesterday afternoon, when the bomb squad moved in to detonate leftover explosives, we had more specifics: FBI Special Agent Kasey Salway compared the explosive to TATP, a peroxide-based substance that was allegedly used in last summer's bombings in London. Even so, Texas City Mayor Matt Doyle maintained yesterday that the explosive-making wasn't related to terrorism. (As for the FBI, a spokeswoman said the same thing Wednesday, but refused to answer questions about terrorism Thursday.)
So if it wasn't terrorism, what was it? Well, investigators said Wednesday afternoon that they think Rugo was making the TATP-like explosive for a little weekend entertainment because "he and his friends ... liked to blow things up." Ah yes, of course — that would mean all this stuff about the pair's possible involvement with an anarchist group "which professes its hatred for the American government" is just coincidence. And maybe it is. In any case, stay tuned: It should be interesting to watch this story unfold.
Update: Texas City Police Chief Robert Burby addresses the story about the anarchist group in this morning's Chronicle: "I have nothing to substantiate that and I don't know where that came from." An FBI spokeswoman said the information hasn't been confirmed.
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There wasn't an anarchist group, and there certainly wasn't a terrorist intent. Matt is from my town, and his friends here are devasted, though not surprised. He was a biochemistry major and treated these things like toys. Blowing things up was his entertainment, not his way of getting back at the government. Matt wasn't a violent person.
I'm not saying what he was doing was okay, but he wasn't a terrorist, and he didn't intend for anyone to be hurt. He was just doing what he loved most.
Curtis would never hurt anyone on purpose. He got me in trouble several times for lighting stuff on fire and other crazy stuff. He's a good guy who just likes blowing stuff up. He really had all those mental heath problems, though, but thats just how we knew him.