Authorities revealed on Wednesday that the individual believed to be responsible for igniting fires in ballot drop boxes across Oregon and Washington is a skilled metalworker, and they suspect he might be planning further attacks. According to Mike Benner, a spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau, investigators think that the way the incendiary devices were built and affixed to the metal drop boxes indicates that this man has significant expertise in metal fabrication and welding.
Described as a white male between 30 and 40 years old with balding or very short hair, police previously noted that surveillance footage captured him driving a dark-colored Volvo S-60 from around 2001 to 2004. While it lacked a front license plate, there was one at the back with unreadable letters or numbers.
Interestingly, these incendiary devices carried messages like Free Gaza, as shared by an anonymous law enforcement source who spoke with The Associated Press regarding an ongoing investigation. A third device found at another drop box in Vancouver earlier this month also featured Free Palestine alongside Free Gaza. Investigators are currently working to determine not only who is behind these suspected arson incidents but also what motivated them. These attacks resulted in damage or destruction of hundreds of ballots when a fire at one drop box occurred on Monday due to its fire suppression system failing.
There’s some speculation about whether the suspect genuinely holds pro-Palestinian beliefs or if he simply used those messages for misdirection. Surveillance footage shows a Volvo arriving at a Portland drop box shortly before security personnel discovered flames inside on Monday morning; fortunately, quick action from both the suppression system and a nearby security guard extinguished it rapidly—only three ballots were harmed.
In Vancouver, however, things took a turn for the worse when another ballot box caught fire despite having its own suppression system; Greg Kimsey, Clark County’s long-serving auditor, reported that hundreds of ballots were burned. Elections staff identified 488 damaged ballots from that incident; by Tuesday evening, 345 voters had reached out for replacement ballots. The office plans to send out 143 new ballots on Thursday while noting six of them were beyond recognition and confirming that some others may have turned completely to ash during the fire.
On Wednesday, the election team was set to sift through the damaged ballots to find out who submitted them, hoping they could issue replacement ballots to those voters. Kimsey encouraged anyone who dropped their ballots in the transit center box from 11 a.m. Saturday until early Monday to get in touch with his office for a new one.
Meanwhile, authorities in Portland announced on Monday that they had gathered enough evidence from the incendiary devices to confirm that the two fires were linked and also tied back to an incendiary device used on October 8 at another ballot drop box in Vancouver—thankfully, no ballots were harmed in that incident.