Harvard student due in court on campus bomb hoax charge
BOSTON – Eldo Kim, a 20-year-old student at Harvard University who, according to the FBI, was trying to get out of a final exam, has been charged with making bomb threats that led to the evacuations of four campus buildings Monday. He is due in court today.
Kim allegedly sent emails saying bombs had been placed around campus to Harvard police, two university officials and the president of the Harvard Crimson newspaper, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney's office.
CBS Boston reports in the email Kim allegedly wrote: “shrapnel bombs placed in science
center, sever hall, emerson hall, thayer hall, 2/4. guess correctly. be
quick for they will go off soon.”
Harvard said in a
statement it was "saddened" by the allegations in the federal
complaint but would have no further comment on the ongoing criminal
investigation.
An
FBI affidavit filed Tuesday says Harvard
determined Kim had accessed TOR, a free Internet product that assigns a
temporary anonymous Internet protocol address, using the university's wireless
network.
The
affidavit also says Kim told an agent on Monday night he had acted alone and sent
the messages to five or six Harvard
email addresses he picked at random.
Kim's
LinkedIn profile says he is an undergraduate scholar at Harvard's Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences. The
institute's website says he is a research assistant who has worked for a
professor analyzing partisan taunting. The profile also said he writes for the Harvard International Review and
dances as a member of the Harvard
Breakers.
The maximum penalties
for a bomb hoax are five years
in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors said.