SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A Bay Area man who said he would follow Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump "to the end of the world" has been arrested on suspicion of making explosives and threatening to harm Muslims.
Police received a tip this past week that 55-year-old William Celli, of Richmond, California, was making explosive devices and threatened to use them against the local Muslim community. Authorities evacuated Celli's home and neighborhood on Sunday, found a device and safely detonated it.
Celli has been arrested and booked into the Contra Costa County Jail, but the charges he faces aren't known at this time according to local media reports. Police have declined to elaborate on the threats Celli made.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations praised law enforcement for their "swift action" and called for federal charges against Celli.
In frequent Facebook posts, Celli railed against undocumented immigrants, Syrian refugees and Democrats.
He also sang the praises of Donald Trump, who has been feeding anti-Muslim hysteria on the campaign trail since the Paris attacks in November and the massacre in San Bernardino earlier this month.
On Friday, the council reported that incidents targeting U.S. mosques and religious institutions in 2015 "show a greater frequency of damage, destruction, vandalism and intimidation" than in any year since it started tracking in 2009.
Of the 71 incidents so far in 2015, 29 have occurred since the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and 14 of those have happened since the San Bernardino shootings on Dec. 3.
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