Eldo Kim, a 20-year-old student at Harvard University, was arrested Tuesday on federal bomb hoax charges in relation to emailed bomb threats at the university on Monday morning. The threats resulted in the evacuation of four university buildings and the cancellation of that morning’s exams.
According to an FBI affidavit released by CBS, Kim said that he emailed the threats in order to avoid taking an exam scheduled for 9 a.m. in Emerson Hall on Dec. 16, and that he acted alone. Emerson was one of the buildings evacuated as a result of the bomb threats-Kim said that he was in Emerson when the fire alarm sounded, and knew then that his plan had worked.
Kim allegedly used an Internet application called Guerilla Mail to obtain a temporary and anonymous e-mail address. He accessed Guerrilla Mail using a product called TOR, which assigns a computer with a temporary IP address. With that email address, he sent out threats of “shrapnel bombs” at about 8:30 a.m. on Monday. According to the affidavit, Kim added the word “shrapnel” because it sounded more dangerous. According to The Boston Globe, Kim sent the threats to two Harvard officials, university police, and The Crimson, Harvard’s student newspaper.
The university was able to determine that Kim used his personal computer to access TOR through Harvard’s wireless network. He was subsequently interviewed by an FBI agent and a member of the Harvard University Police Department on the night of Dec. 16, and confessed to sending the emails.
Kim is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Wednesday.
