Michael Gann, 55, allegedly manufactured at least seven explosive devices using chemicals ordered online and stored five devices and shotgun shells on apartment building rooftops in Manhattan’s SoHo neighbourhood, according to the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York.
Authorities said Gann threw one IED onto subway tracks on the Williamsburg Bridge and was arrested with a seventh device on his person early June.
“As alleged, Michael Gann built explosive devices, stored them on a rooftop in SoHo, and threw one onto the subway tracks – putting countless lives at risk,” said US attorney Jay Clayton.
“Thanks to swift work by our law enforcement partners, no one was harmed.”
According to prosecutors, Gann ordered approximately two pounds of potassium perchlorate and one pound of aluminium powder – precursor chemicals to explosives – online in May, along with over 200 cardboard tubes and 50 feet of fuses.
One of the devices placed on the roof of a SoHo building “contained approximately 30g of explosive powder – approximately 600 times the legal limit for consumer fireworks”, the attorney’s office said.
On or about June 5, just hours before his arrest while carrying an IED, he posted to Instagram: “Who wants me to go out to play like no tomorrow?”
Before making the IEDs, prosecutors said, Gann posted a message on X on March 27 tagging the POTUS account, the official handle for the president of the US.
He wrote: “I’m thinking just now here in NYC that it’s too bad that the wall wasn’t built before the National Guard would have to come here for the Protests and Riotation or would you just drop a bomb on this place while and because they seem to be coming and coming?”
Between May and June 2025, Gann also searched online for information on bomb-making, firearms, and 3D-printed guns, as well as background checks for firearm purchases, according to the indictment.
Gann, a resident of New York City’s Inwood neighbourhood, faces charges of attempted destruction of property by explosives, transportation of explosive materials and unlawful possession of destructive devices.
The most serious charge carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and maximum of 20 years.