Greenwich Village, NY – Morgan Gliedman and her boyfriend Aaron Green were arrested for allegedly possessing bombmaking explosives and a large collection of weapons. Gliedman, who is nine months pregnant, is the daughter of a prominent New York doctor. Greene is a Harvard graduate and allegedly an Occupy Wall Street activist.
Police officers found the alleged weapons cache and bombmaking explosive when they went to the Greenwich Village apartment to find Gliedman, 27, who was wanted for credit card theft, the New York Post reports. Morgan Gliedman bombmaking allegations are in stark contrast to her privileged background. She grew up on Park Avenue and graduated from Dalton in 2002.
Law enforcement officers reportedly found a plastic container filled with seven grams of HMTD powder. The substance is so powerful that police officers ordered the evacuation of multiple adjacent buildings. The powder was ultimately removed by the bomb squad for testing, the New York Times notes.
Items also found in the New York apartment occupied by Aaron Greene and Morgan Gliedman include a 12 gauge shotgun, nine “high-capacity” rifle magazines and a flare launcher. The flare launcher is a commercialized replica of a grenade launcher.
A stack of documents with a cover sheet entitled, “The Terrorist Encyclopedia,” was also allegedly found among the weapons and bombmaking explosive at Morgan Gliedman’s apartment on West Ninth Street. Papers which described how to make homemade bobby traps and submachine guns were allegedly among the couples’ possession.
The ability to make weapons which could enable a mass shooting or terrorist attack will possibly become a prominent topic of discussion in the ongoing gun control debate. Gun rights advocates contend that a firearms ban, additional taxes, or stricter backgrounds will not prevent criminals from getting their hands of weapons capable of causing massive carnage.