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Youtuber "King Of Random" is Charged With Possessing Explosives

posted by mrpg on Thursday January 18 2018, @10:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the random.choice() dept.

tonyPick writes:

Jonathan Grant Thompson, the man behind the popular science-focused YouTube channel King of Random has been charged with two counts of second-degree felony possession of an explosive device.

Thompson, 37, runs the King of Random YouTube channel, boasting about 200 videos and 8.9 million subscribers. His videos are of science experiments and are in the vein of science-based shows on networks such as the Discovery Channel.

Thompson has been making videos and putting them on YouTube since 2010. His videos have garnered more than 1.6 billion combined views.

According to the article the first complaint "resulted from a citizen complaint via Facebook Messenger on June 15 about Thompson exploding a dry ice bomb", and for the second:

Thompson said a friend had left him a bag of powder, which he believed to be from a deconstructed firework.

After lighting a couple of small "control fires" Thompson and Timothy Burgess, 20, of Ontario, Canada, ignited a larger pile which exploded, the police report states. According to the report, firefighters heard the explosion from the nearby fire station.

Google Maps shows there is a South Jordan fire station 0.2 miles from Thompson's home.

The explosion left Burgess with small particles of burned material embedded in his arms, charges say.

Burgess was charged with one count of second-degree felony possession of an explosive device. Court records show prosecutors have asked a judge to issue a $15,000 warrant for his arrest

Originally spotted via AvE's channel.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by arcz on Thursday January 18 2018, @10:46PM (3 children)

    by arcz (4501) on Thursday January 18 2018, @10:46PM (#624452) Journal
    I'm assuming he has an explosives permit. He talks about how they are required in one of his gunpowder videos. What kind of idiot would make gunpowder, post it on youtube, and talk about how the law requires you to have a permit, who didn't themselves have a permit?
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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Thursday January 18 2018, @11:13PM (2 children)

    by frojack (1554) on Thursday January 18 2018, @11:13PM (#624462) Journal

    To be specific:
    You don't need a permit to have gun powder. Either modern smokeless gun powder or black powder

    You need a permit to manufacture or import it in quantity.

    Black Powder is something of a legal oddity:

    Black powder is an explosive material for purposes of Federal explosives laws and regulations. However, the law exempts from regulation commercially manufactured black powder in quantities not exceeding 50 pounds (as well as percussion caps, safety and pyrotechnic fuses, quills, quick and slow matches, and friction primers) intended to be used solely for sporting, recreational, or cultural purposes in antique firearms as defined in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16) or in antique devices exempted from the term "destructive device" in 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(4). However, persons engaged in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in black powder in any quantity must have a Federal explosives license, and comply with recordkeeping, storage and conduct of business requirements. [18 U.S.C. 841(c), 841(d), 845(a)(5); 27 CFR 555.11: definitions of "explosives" and "explosive materials", 555.141(b)]

    https://www.atf.gov/explosives/qa/black-powder-subject-regulation-under-federal-explosives-laws [atf.gov]

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