Two men accused of putting bomb under news vehicle now face charges stemming from search

The Salt Lake County District Attorney building in Salt Lake City is pictured on Wednesday, January 3, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Two men arrested earlier this month after police found a bomb under a news vehicle now face charges stemming from the search of their home.

Adeeb Nasir, 58, and Adil Justice Ahmed Nasir, 31, are each charged with two counts of manufacturing, possessing, selling or using a weapon of mass destruction, both second-degree felonies.

Adeeb Nasir also faces two third-degree felony charges of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person due to controlled substance use.

The two men are being held without bail as the investigation continues.

The charges filed late Monday do not mention the suspicious device that was found under a news vehicle Sept. 12 while it was parked next to an occupied building in Salt Lake City. Jail booking affidavits for the two men said the incendiary device was real and had been lit, but the fuse malfunctioned. 

FOX 13 News reported the targeted vehicle was part of its fleet.  

According to the charges, investigators executed a search warrant on the men’s home on the 2700 South block of 8500 West found what appeared to be a stick of dynamite with a blasting cap and fuse in a kitchen cabinet, and another in Adeeb Nasir’s bedroom closet. Because the men told investigators the explosives were real, the home and surrounding area were evacuated.

Bomb technicians determined the dynamite was fake, the charges say.

Investigators also found marijuana and multiple firearms in the home.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the incident. In a statement, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said his office cannot comment on the federal investigation. 

News of the incendiary device under a Utah news vehicle is not the first case of an apparent attack on media this month. On Friday, shots were fired through a window of the ABC10 news building, according to the Sacramento Bee. A Sacramento man, 64-year-old Anibal Hernandez Santana, faces three felony charges of firing a gun at an inhabited building, assault with a deadly weapon and firing a gun in a negligent manner, the Bee reported.

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