On February 15, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the Bronx apartment of twin brothers Christian and Tyler Toro, both 27. Agents found more than 30 pounds of explosive precursor chemicals and a handwritten note stating “under the full moon the small ones will know terror” among other items. The brothers were arrested and hit with explosives charges. Both defendants have been detained since their arrests.
According to the criminal complaint, Christian Toro came under suspicion in January after a bomb threat was called in to the Harlem high school where he worked as a teacher. A 15-year old student was arrested, and Toro abruptly resigned. Shortly after he resigned, his brother returned a work laptop to the school, and a school employee found a copy of a bomb-making book on the laptop. When law enforcement agents interviewed Toro, he claimed that he had not meant to download the book, and that he had only looked at the table of contents.
Toro was arrested and charged with statutory rape in an unrelated case around this time.
Authorities applied for a search warrant after they learned that Toro had paid students from the school to come over to his apartment to break open fireworks and set aside the powder that came out of them on multiple occasions in late 2017.
Christian Toro’s bail hearing
Less than a week after his arrest, a bail hearing was held for Christian Toro in Manhattan federal court. According to court documents, the government argued that he should remain in custody because he is both a danger to the community and a flight risk.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Hanft listed the trove of bomb-making materials found during the search of the brothers’ apartment including chemicals, a glass jar containing explosive powder, a fuse, ball bearings, seven boxes of firecrackers, a gas mask, gloves, improvised napalm, and a bag of 38 caliber bullets.
Hanft said that the government has evidence that Toro lit powder on fire in front of a student on at least one occasion. She pointed out that Toro continued to stockpile explosive materials in his apartment even after his arrest on the statutory rape charge.
Hanft also revealed that when law enforcement agents entered the apartment to execute the search warrant, Toro was found in the bathroom attempting to flush marijuana down the toilet.
Authorities found a text message from Tyler Toro to Christian Toro stating that the Las Vegas shooter had a police scanner and they needed to get one. Christian allegedly responded by saying “copy, I see a couple on Amazon”.
Toro’s defense counsel tried to convince Magistrate Judge James Cott that her client was not a danger to the community or a flight risk, but he found that the government had presented sufficient evidence to support the charges. Judge Cott denied the application to set bail conditions.
Toro faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Update: Christian and Tyler Toro both pled guilty on November 26.