(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A Utah man has been charged with planting a bomb under a Fox News van two days after the Charlie Kirk assassination. Meanwhile, two suspects originally arrested for the attempted bombing have been cleared.
Christopher Solomon Proctor, 45, lit a fuse attached to a 2.5-gallon plastic gas container that he had put under a news vehicle owned by the Salt Lake City local Fox affiliate, KSTU-TV, that was parked outside of a building on Sept. 12, according to federal court filings. The fuse went out before the gas ignited.
Proctor has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted arson and possession of an unregistered destructive device. His attorney, Richard Sorenson, didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
During a hearing last Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead ordered Proctor, who was arrested Sept. 29, to remain in jail until his trial. Pead said there was evidence that Proctor had planned to repeat the attempt, despite family and friends insisting that Proctor posed no danger to others, according to court documents.
A license plate reader recorded Proctor’s vehicle near the scene within minutes of the crime, and investigators found items in Proctor’s home similar to those used to carry out the attempted arson, including black boots, a different gas can that also had a hole carved in the top, and a portion of fuse, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thorpe wrote.
🚨NEW: The 2 men originally accused of planting a bomb under a Fox News van after the Charlie Kirk assassination have been cleared, and a third man has been charged.
STORY BELOW https://t.co/XMNcqkE4Z7 pic.twitter.com/AyP8kH1KnC— Headline USA (@HeadlineUSA) October 20, 2025
According to prosecutors, Proctor bought more fuse days after the failed attempt and returned to the crime scene a week later. Proctor “had mentioned burning Fox News on previous occasions” to others, and told an acquaintance that he lit a fuse under a “fox news” vehicle but it did not blow up, Thorpe wrote.
“That purchase, the presence of another gas-can at his residence and the deliberate resurveilling of the news station lead to an inference that the defendant may not have been satisfied with his failed attempt,” Thorpe wrote.
The day after the alleged arson attempt, two men—Adeeb Nasir, 58, and his 31-year-old son, Adil Nasir—were arrested on suspicion of placing a makeshift bomb under the KSTU-TV news vehicle. Investigators searched their home and found two sticks of inactive dynamite that the men claimed were real, according to court documents. They were charged in state court with crimes including possessing hoax explosives.
However, the men were cleared of their involvement in the bombing last Wednesday, according to the local Fox affiliate that’s also the victim of the crime. The Nasirs were both released from jail, though they still face charges—Abil reportedly facing two felony counts of manufacturing, possessing, selling, or using a weapon of mass destruction, and Abeed facing two lesser felony counts of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person due to controlled substance use.
“I don’t believe the crime that is spoken about with the FOX 13 stuff, I don’t think that really has anything to do with this case,” Third District Judge Mark Kouris reportedly said after hearing from both the defense and the prosecution, “and the fact that the two were mixed together is a mystery in my opinion.”
The incident happened two days after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City. Thorpe said at Monday’s hearing that there is no evidence linking the alleged arson attempt to Kirk’s death, KSTU-TV reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
