3 bombs go off in Austin, 2 dead - Bomber is dead

[Honu]

also would not surprise me if it turns out to be someone of the same group that is targeted
a person who hates the country wants to stir up race riots etc.
based only on the fact all the Nazi idiocy all the spray painted hate speech has pretty much all been by those folks that claim it was against them
look at all the fake accusations of folks who claimed physical altercations so far have all been them lying and faking it to try to stir things up

it very well could be anyone but just going off history so far its one of their own stirring the pot maybe

[Moose-Knuckle]

also would not surprise me if it turns out to be someone of the same group that is targeted
a person who hates the country wants to stir up race riots etc.
based only on the fact all the Nazi idiocy all the spray painted hate speech has pretty much all been by those folks that claim it was against them
look at all the fake accusations of folks who claimed physical altercations so far have all been them lying and faking it to try to stir things up

it very well could be anyone but just going off history so far its one of their own stirring the pot maybe

A few years back a white chick claimed that a black girl threw acid in her face, turns out the white chic did it to herself to blame the black girl.

Remember Tawana Brawley anyone?

Duke Lacrosse team...

Since the election I've read of two cases of Arab female college students who filed false reports to their respective campus police over bogus hate crimes claiming white males in red MAGA hats pulled off their hijabs and yelled slurs at them.

This is a thing now...

[Honu]

A few years back a white chick claimed that a black girl threw acid in her face, turns out the white chic did it to herself to blame the black girl.

Remember Tawana Brawley anyone?

Duke Lacrosse team...

Since the election I've read of two cases of Arab female college students who filed false reports to their respective campus police over bogus hate crimes claiming white males in red MAGA hats pulled off their hijabs and yelled slurs at them.

This is a thing now...

YUP anything for the attention or cause these days forget the truth make it up stir it up yourself etc..

[elephant]

I don't have any experience in building bombs. I will assume that building a bomb that is stable enough to transport yet able to detonate at an appropriate time take a little background in engineering, general background in bomb building-EOD or someone who has ties to either. I doubt this is something you can just pick up naturally. Ted Kaczynski (Unabomber) was a PhD math professor for the University of Michigan, Timothy McVeigh was an ex Army infantryman who specialized in explosives, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was Marine Biology student enrolled in Dartmouth taking "Principles of Modern Chemistry" and "Application to Chemical Mechanics" classes.

From what I have read, which isn't much, the word on the street is suggesting that the detonation devises of these mail bombs are kind of complex for what they are. I read that the FBI and BATFE suspect that the detonators are chemical activated and not mechanical as previously thought. That would lead me to believe that the "bomb builder" is educated in either chemistry, engineering or has experience in building improvised explosives.

[Averageman]

Well I agree being educated might help, bit remember, we've been dealing with guys in Iraq building IED's for well over a decade, going on two now.
If someone states "chemical" activated, could that be mercury? Nearly every home thermostat has a mercury switch inside. So that's readily available.
Unless he's home mixing his own explosives there is going to be a traceable record. If he's mixing at home he's doing so without blowing himself up so far, so perhaps some experience with chemistry is likely.
It's a long hard road to find this guy if he's half as smart as the unibomber.

[elephant]

Well I agree being educated might help, bit remember, we've been dealing with guys in Iraq building IED's for well over a decade, going on two now.
If someone states "chemical" activated, could that be mercury? Nearly every home thermostat has a mercury switch inside. So that's readily available.
Unless he's home mixing his own explosives there is going to be a traceable record. If he's mixing at home he's doing so without blowing himself up so far, so perhaps some experience with chemistry is likely.
It's a long hard road to find this guy if he's half as smart as the unibomber.

I remember that most of these roadside bombs were nothing more than Russian artillery rounds and a cellphone that had the wires that would normally activate the ring speaker going to the fuse itself. Simply dial the number to that phone, press "send" and BOOM! I think in todays times, using a phone would help the FBI/NSA arrest the bomb builder within 24hours.

Austin Police Department, FBI, BATFE and Texas Rangers have stated in reference to the bomber:

"higher level of sophistication and a higher level of skill"

"has been terrorizing this city with increasingly complex devices".

" appear to be the sophisticated work of a person or people who know what they are doing"

"Once a bomb builder makes a device, they usually make it the same way each and every time,” said Defenbaugh, who managed the Oklahoma City bombing investigation. “That’s not happening here", this is extremely difficult for our investigation".

"Authorities warned that the devices appear to be getting more sophisticated"

[R6436]

I remember that most of these roadside bombs were nothing more than Russian artillery rounds and a cellphone that had the wires that would normally activate the ring speaker going to the fuse itself. Simply dial the number to that phone, press "send" and BOOM!

We also encountered ones with set off by IR/heat sources after radio jammers became standard issue on vehicles. That caused a return in some parts of the country to using physical wires and a look-out. Others adapted by long periods of observations and using basic timers, some used pressure plates.

Also, a number of the artillery rounds were ones we had supplied to Saddam back during the Iran/Iraq war. Around late 2008 or so, they moved to explosively formed projectiles. There was quite a variety of IED's even without taking vehicle borne ones into consideration.

[elephant]

We also encountered ones with set off by IR/heat sources after radio jammers became standard issue on vehicles. That caused a return in some parts of the country to using physical wires and a look-out. Others adapted by long periods of observations and using basic timers, some used pressure plates.

Also, a number of the artillery rounds were ones we had supplied to Saddam back during the Iran/Iraq war. Around late 2008 or so, they moved to explosively formed projectiles. There was quite a variety of IED's even without taking vehicle borne ones into consideration.

I cant imagine the stress levels you must have had.

[austinN4]

And yet another one (#5):

Package believed to be bound for Austin explodes at FedEx facility in Schertz
American-Statesman Staff, 5:06 a.m. Tuesday, March 20, 2018

https://www.statesman.com/news/local...MilAAp6xEJvFI/

[Moose-Knuckle]

It's a long hard road to find this guy if he's half as smart as the unibomber.

Old Ted got jammed up simply due to a nosey SIL. The guy was completely off the grid and probably would have never been found out otherwise.