Fresno police are investigating whether there is a connection between a firebombing at a southwest Fresno police substation and a blog on a website where the action was praised a short time later.
"The individual who left this blog either knows [the arsonist] or was involved," Police Chief Jerry Dyer said.
Dyer said the firebombing happened about 11:30 p.m. Aug. 17 at the substation near Tuolumne and C streets. Firefighters went to a fire in the station's parking lot and found that it started on a police pickup and damaged the personal cars of two officers next to the truck.
The cause was arson and investigators from the Fresno Fire Department, the Police Department's bomb unit and an independent investigator are working on the case.
Slightly more than an hour after the arson, at 12:38 a.m. Aug. 18, Dyer said someone published a blog on the website Indybay.org making reference to it. Indybay strongly opposes Bay Area Rapid Transit police after the fatal shooting of passenger Charles Hill in July.
The blog also condemned the Fresno Police Department and its role in the shooting of Carl Maggiorini, 39, who was killed Aug. 3.
The shooting happened after police say Maggiorini charged an officer while wielding a large knife.
The Fresno County Coroner's Office said Maggiorini had "extraordinarily high" levels of methamphetamine in his body at the time of the shooting.
On the website, someone blogging as "Charles Hill" wrote: "In solidarity with everyone fighting against police brutality and the police state, Molotovs were thrown into the parking lot of the Fresno SW substation where police cars and pigs' personal vehicles are parked. At least two cars burned ... All police are murderers. FPD recently executed Carl Maggiorini and have a strong reputation for executing people of color whether armed or not. The time to fight back is now!"
Said Dyer: "These types of people are cowards."
He added that he had "significant concerns that a least one individual is trying to engage officers in actions against police."
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also is aware of the case, Dyer said.
Efforts to reach Indybay for comment were unsuccessful.
~ Jim Guy, Fresno Bee
THE REPORTER MAY BE REACHED AT JGUY@FRESNOBEE.COM OR (559) 441-6339.
Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/08/24/2510818/fresno-police-investigate-blog.html#storylink=mirelated#ixzz1Yuhhx4Dl
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