Pro-Occupy Doctor Arrested With 'Large Amounts' of Bomb-Making Materials

"Had a combative personality and would cut people off while riding his bike around town"

Occupy Wall Street protestors march towards Times Square the day after they successfully resisted a potential eviction from their camp in Zuccotti Park, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011, in New York. (AP File Photo)

Over the weekend the Associated Press reported that large amounts of bomb-making materials were found in the home of unemployed New Jersey doctor Roberto Rivera.

Little was known about the man initially, but multiple sources are now saying he was prominently affiliated with the controversial Occupy Wall Street movement.

ABC News writes that the 60-year-old doctor's home was searched Friday after police received a tip that he was in possession of hazardous and explosive materials, and though they didn't get into specifics, police said they found a large amount of a chemical typically used in the creation of bombs.

Not only that, but they also found "several other precursor chemicals commonly used in the making of explosive devices," according to a press release from Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli. Rivera was also in possession of a number of assault rifles, other firearms and a stun gun, the release adds.

Occupy Wall Street sympathizers protest (subject not pictured). (AP File Photo)

Rivera even appeared in a Bloomberg News slideshow for Occupy Wall Street, holding a sign that reads "+ Washington Square Park, Too!!!"

The New York Post has more, adding that Rivera has a second home in Yonkers:

“I’m glad that at last the youth of America is able to stand on two feet and take a position that millions of people around the world have taken that they will not be intimidated by the capitalist free-market paradigm and they will fight against gross inequality in distribution of income and assets,” Rivera told Bloomberg News in October 2011.
Rivera also told the Tribeca Trib that he was a volunteer medic who walked around Zuccotti providing medical aid to those in need.
[...]
Neighbors in Ridgewood said Rivera, who lives there with his girlfriend, had a combative personality and would cut people off while riding his bike around town.
“He just sneered at me,” said Elizabeth Western.
“He’s just one of those guys who just goes against everything.” [Emphasis added]

Rivera faces six charges according to ABC, including possession of a destructive device and recklessly creating a risk of widespread injury or damage. His bail has been set at $1 million.

Occupy Wall Street representative Bill Dobbs, meanwhile, denied any knowledge of Rivera to ABC, and insisted the movement is committed to non-violence.

WeaselZippers sarcastically concluded: "If this guy was a Tea Partier this would be front-page news."

(H/T: Gateway Pundit)