The man’s little brother was caught on surveillance camera at one of the fires.
Photo: Boston Police
Joseph Bonavolonta led the FBI’s investigation.
Photo: FBI
The 35-year-old man has been convicted of several crimes in Sweden.
In 2022, he was convicted of serious weapons offences, as he was in possession of, among other things, a gun, a crossbow and an axe. A bottle of cyanide and several objects decorated with swastikas were also found.
The arrest was made by Säpo at the request of the FBI.
Now he has been extradited to the United States – where he is suspected of more serious crimes.
The penalty for the weapons offense was imprisonment for two years. But the reason for the FBI’s interest in the man is several fires in the Boston area starting in 2019.
Three cases of arson
The fires, four in number, were started by the man’s younger brother, according to the FBI, and were aimed at three Jewish premises in the United States.
“While the fires caused only minor damage to the buildings’ exteriors, the events were ‘very traumatizing to the Jewish diaspora in and around Boston'”says the US indictment from September 2021.
The little brother, who was the main suspect in the case, died shortly after the fires.
According to the FBI, the now extradited man must have taken all the evidence with him and fled to Sweden, where he also has a child.
The fires are classified as domestic terrorism in the United States. The man is accused of having disposed of evidence and lied to the police on four occasions – and risks 80 years in prison.
The man arrived in the United States on Friday, the trial begins on Monday.
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