CLEARWATER -- A 22-year-old man is facing charges of making and possessing a destructive device, as well as loitering and prowling, after Pinellas deputies arrested him a few blocks from the Courthouse on 49th Street.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri says Garrett Smith was arrested after a rally held in a parking lot outside the courthouse Thursday afternoon, by people supporting Jeremy Brown, who's being held by the Pinellas jail on behalf of federal authorities, over charges related to the Capitol riot. They describe Brown as a political prisoner.
According to Gualtieri, Smith, who had been in Portland, Oregon recently, was running away from that rally, dressed in all black. Gualtieri says Smith had a bomb in his backpack. They found a pipe bomb and four hand grenades at his home. He's being held on a bond of more than $300,000.
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