Spokane Police say the man arrested for starting a fire at the county’s Democratic Party headquarters on Wednesday has been charged with first-degree arson.
Police say 45-year-old Peter Yeager from Grand Coulee entered the building that’s also occupied by the Teamsters’ Union local. Witnesses said he wore a backpack and told volunteers in the Democratic Party office that he had a bomb. It turns out there was no bomb, just gas and oil to ignite a fire.
Police say Yeager told investigators that he’s mad at the entire government and the people he terms the “elites.” He said he wasn’t targeting Democrats, but went to the first place political headquarters he found in a Google search.
According to a news release, Yeager said he’s been thinking for awhile about taking radical action and that he intended to burn down the building, but wanted to make sure everyone got out safely first. Yeager complied with a police order to leave, but smoke was soon seen billowing from inside.
Police say Yeager called himself “a lone wolf”, an Iraqi War veteran who suffers from PTSD. He’s now in custody at the Spokane County jail.
Mayor Nadine Woodward and Police Chief Craig Meidl on Thursday released a statement about this case. They say they share the outrage and distress expressed by many in the community. They praised the people in the Democratic Party office and others who helped to defuse the situation and keep it from escalating.