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A Central Washington man whose home was searched the day of May Day protests in Seattle was arrested Thursday by the FBI on a charge of receiving components of an incendiary-explosive device.
Melvin Thomas Neifert, 41, of Selah, Yakima County, was taken into custody about 9 a.m. by the FBI Seattle Division’s Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The FBI revealed little about the arrest, but confirmed it related to comments made on May 1 by Seattle FBI Special Agent In Charge Frank Montoya Jr. during a May Day news briefing on the Seattle disturbances.
At that time, Montoya said the FBI had questioned a man in Central Washington and seized items that could be used for incendiary devices. He did not reveal whether the man had any connection with the violence that erupted in Seattle on May Day.
Montoya said social media played a part in his agents’ contacting the person. A day later, the FBI disclosed a search warrant had been served in Selah.
Neifert’s Facebook page described him as an "Insurrectionist at the Cascadian Anarchist Liberation Movement."
