Wheatfield bomb maker ordered to be detained

I have been watching this story to see where it may lead.  This is home town for me (not to far from were I grew up), and I am a bit flabbergast by some the reactions of former classmates to this incident.

The U.S. Attorney's Office revealed new information Wednesday, regarding the investigation of a Wheatfield man accused of making and possessing homemade bombs.

The new information, was geared to persuade a federal judge that Michael O'Neill, should be detained in federal facility and not allowed to seek bail or bond.

O'Neill is accused of making at least seven bombs at his home. Two weeks ago, one of the explosives inadvertently went off inside the garage. O'Neill was the only one injured and was taken to ECMC where his left leg was amputated. He's been there ever since.

What's the new evidence prosecutors are revealing?

"A series of exhibits that the government felt justified detention of Mr. O'Neill," said U.S. Attorney William Hochul.

Prosecutors released several pictures of some of the explosives O'Neill made. One said nails are inside. Another one contained BB's.

Here's more evidence prosecutors are revealing -- raising questions about whether O'Neill is a racist? Prosecutors say O'Neill, who's a former Niagara County corrections officer, was found with Nazi posters, Confederate flags and other divisive items in his garage.

"Depiction of a certain Ku Klux Klan symbol or picture, it also included a picture of the founder of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest," Hochul said.

"We don't know the import exactly of what these sort of inflammatory items might've mean only to say that they were in the immediate vicinity," said Jack Alsup, an assistant U.S. Attorney.

Wheatfield bomb maker ordered to be detained

See also:

New York white supremacist blows off his own leg while making bombs at his house: prosecutors

His attorney said O’Neill was just planning to blow up some tree stumps.

“The fact that there were some items that we described in court as consistent with, white supremacists, to include the Ku Klux Klan, and the Nazi imagery, some of the verbiage which was particularly on the Nazi picture, also the Confederate battle flag, means that law enforcement has more work to go,” U.S. Attorney William Hochul told TWC News.