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Trump supporter outs her own grandson as alleged firebomber in Portland

Activist has been charged with felony arson over courthouse incident.

Published: August 1, 2020 12:35pm

Updated: August 1, 2020 1:04pm

A Trump-supporting Portland woman publicly outed her own grandson as the individual seen throwing a makeshift incendiary device at a federal courthouse during a recent night of tumultuous protests in the Oregon city. 

Karla Fox claimed to the New York Post this week that she recognized her grandson, Gabriel Agard-Berryhill, depicted in a video throwing an explosive device at the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in Portland. Fox said she identified him by the consumer-grade ballistic vest she bought him after he had been struck by rubber bullets at another Portland-area protest. 

In a tweet earlier in the week, Fox wrote that the bomber in the video was "my only grandson, I love him to death, and didn't know he was going to do such a bad thing."

In a series of text messages to the Post on Thursday, Agard-Berryhill seemed to tacitly confess to being the bomber depicted in the video, though he stopped short of actually claiming responsibility, saying instead that the device he had allegedly thrown "was allegedly given to me by an unknown protestor with full face coverings."

"I was allegedly told that it was a strobe firework that wouldn’t damage the building or harm anyone around it," he said. 

The 18-year-old subsequently turned himself in to U.S. marshals. He was charged with felony arson and released without bail. 

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