Self-described American nationalist is held in NYC bomb hoax

Louis Shenker, 22, will be charged with placing a false bomb, criminal possession of stolen property and abandonment of a disabled animal in connection with the episode Monday at the Queens Place Mall in Elmhurst, said detective Denise Moroney, a police spokesperson.The mall was evacuated around 730 a.m. Monday after a device that was made to look like an explosive was found in a black Tesla parked on a ramp in a parking garage.

A self-described American nationalist suspected of leaving a hoax explosive device in a car at a New York City mall is facing criminal charges after turning himself in to police, authorities have said. Louis Shenker, 22, will be charged with placing a false bomb, criminal possession of stolen property and abandonment of a disabled animal in connection with the episode Monday at the Queens Place Mall in Elmhurst, said detective Denise Moroney, a police spokesperson.

The mall was evacuated around 7:30 a.m. Monday after a device that was made to look like an explosive was found in a black Tesla parked on a ramp in a parking garage. A dog — a husky — was also found in the vehicle, which had a Nevada license plate and had been reported stolen in that state. Shenker surrendered to officers around 3 am Tuesday in Brooklyn. The Queens district attorney's office said that it was preparing paperwork on Shenker's charges and that he was expected to be arraigned later Tuesday.

Being led from a police station in handcuffs, Shenker claimed that the suspicious device was actually a rig to charge the Tesla's dead battery. He mocked media coverage as "fake news" and derided reporters covering his arrest as ''morons." "It was a Tesla car being charged,'' Shenker said. "... It was literally a car being charged because the battery died." Shenker, who has described himself on social media as a "patriot" and a supporter of President Donald Trump, was previously arrested Dec. 30 on suspicion of torching a poster attached to a police barricade in Manhattan. He was arraigned Friday and released without bail. A message seeking comment was left for Shenker's lawyer in that case.

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