MD Man Threatened To Kill Senators Sanders, Harris: Court

CROFTON, MD — A Maryland man arrested by local authorities this spring for a series of arson fires has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of threatening to kill Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Kamala Harris of California, and to harm participants at the March For Our Lives rally. Court documents say Nicholas Edward Bukoski, 19, of Crofton, has been taken into custody on two counts of threatening to assault or murder members of Congress and three counts of transmitting threats via interstate commerce.

The threats were all made on March 24, which is the day of that students, teachers, parents and others poured into Washington, D.C., for March For Our Lives. The gathering was organized to protest gun violence after 17 students and teachers were killed by a gunman armed with an AR-15 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

While the indictments were issued on April 11, they were sealed until last week when Bukoski was taken into custody, Politico reports. The criminal filing contains no specifics on what Bukoski's plans might have been, what his threats outlined, how he intended to carry them out or when. Neither senator has commented on the arrest.

In May, Bukoski was accused of setting a series of arson fires in the Crofton and Gambrills area and charged with multiple counts of arson, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department. Bukoski is charged with first-degree arson, second-degree arson, several counts of attempted second-degree arson, attempted malicious burning, several counts of arson involving trash containers and reckless endangerment in those cases.

The charges stem from a series of arson fires in the Crofton and Gambrills area beginning in the spring of 2017 through January of this year. Fires included a Dumpster and trash can fire at a shopping center and a dog waste collection station. The first-degree arson charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years imprisonment and/or $50,000 fine.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. And like Patch on Facebook!)

Photo of Nicholas Bukoski, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police