A 49-year-old California man, identified as Kimani Osayande Jones, was arrested after TSA officers at Sacramento International Airport found a homemade explosive device, multiple bladed weapons, and five cellphones with camera covers in his carry-on as he trie
When a 49-year-old man stepped up to TSA officers at Sacramento International Airport Saturday night. he looked out of place in more than one way. He wore a scarf pulled around his face and blue latex gloves on his hands as he approached the screening area—then his carry-on bag turned the moment into a federal case.
Inside his backpack, officers found a knife and other bladed weapons, zip ties, a butane torch lighter, and a homemade explosive device, the U.S. Department of Justice said. They also found five cellphones, all with painter’s tape covering the front camera.
The timing details were what made prosecutors’ complaint feel especially alarming. One phone had a 15-minute timer ready to start, and another displayed an ominous message from an unknown number: “we will be awaiting your call.”
Jones—identified in court filings as Kimani Osayande Jones—was attempting to board an American Airlines flight to Charlotte. N.C. at about 9 p.m. when the items were discovered. In his interactions with officers. he told them he did not know the items were in his bag and said he would be fine discarding them. He then invoked his Miranda rights and refused to be interviewed by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office or the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
He was placed under arrest and transported to Sacramento County Jail.
On Tuesday, Jones was charged in California’s Eastern District Court with unlawfully possessing explosive material in an airport. If convicted, he faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The explosive device itself was described in the complaint as a 2.5-inch-long brown cylinder with a 1-inch green fuse. FBI and Sheriff’s Department bomb technicians worked together to extract it from the backpack. place a bomb blast suppression device on top. and remove it from the airport. The device was rendered safe; the fuse and powder were sent for testing.
Those materials were later determined to be “viable and energetic,” according to the complaint.
Federal authorities also assessed what could have happened if the device had worked as designed. An FBI bomb technician determined that if it detonated in an aircraft flying above 10,000 feet, it had the potential to damage the plane’s window and cause a possible loss of cabin pressure.
Beyond the items found at the airport. prosecutors pointed to Jones’s history as they sought to explain the nature of his case. The complaint says Jones has a history of paranoia and that he believed he had made 13 calls to the FBI this year reporting that he was being threatened and intimidated. During those calls. he reported being followed. sabotaged while he slept. coerced. and having his life threatened by people who could access his texts.
In the calls, he mentioned exercising his Second Amendment rights to defend himself against the threats. He also said he needed the threats legally documented and sought information on how the threatening parties could access his home and personal information.
For now, the case turns on what was in the bag and how close it came to being carried onto a flight—timing, electronics, weapons, and an improvised explosive device all discovered before departure.
Sacramento International Airport TSA explosive device American Airlines Charlotte Kimani Osayande Jones FBI bomb technicians airport security Miranda rights federal charges
TSA really be finding everything except my patience.
How is he even allowed to keep the scarf on? Like I don’t get it. If he had painter’s tape on cameras, that seems like he was filming or something, right?
Miranda rights and he refused to talk… so basically he admitted it without admitting it? Also why were they even letting him approach with gloves and all that if it was that obvious.
I saw something like this before where people had “home made” stuff and it was like a prank or for cosplay or whatever. But 5 phones with camera covers sounds more than normal. The part about the timer like 15 minutes though, makes me think he was trying to take off and do something, even if he said he didn’t know. Also American Airlines to Charlotte… why Charlotte tho, like what’s special about NC? I dunno.