Action 4 News Brownsville - ValleyCentral.com

by Sergio Chapa

BROWNSVILLE, TX - Court records show that a derogatory comment made against Islam was the motive in a weekend bomb threat at the University of Texas at Brownsville.

UTB police arrested 25-year-old Henry Dewitt McFarland III on a terroristic threat charge on Sunday afternoon.

The Harlingen man is accused of phoning in a bomb threat to the UTB campus early Sunday morning.

Court records released on Monday show that McFarland made the threat to the National Veteran's Crisis Hotline.

McFarland allegedly told the operator is a Marine Corps veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and in the process of converting to Islam.

According to the records, McFarland was planning to detonate a bomb in retaliation to a classmate making a derogatory remark against the Muslim faith.

McFarland told the operator that he had a pressure plate bomb in his living room.

The Harlingen veteran told the operator that he receiving counseling for anger management and domestic violence.

Authorities searched McFarland's apartment home off Morgan Boulevard on Sunday afternoon.

Investigators told Action 4 News on Sunday that they did not find anything inside his home.

McFarland appeared before Cameron County Magistrate Judge Alfredo Cordova on Monday morning where he was issued a $10,000 dollar bond.