Pentagon scare suspect is Marine reservist

Los Angeles Times reports

ARLINGTON, Va.— An Ethiopian-born U.S. Marine Corps reservist carrying a backpack containing what authorities said were suspicious materials briefly fled police Friday before he was detained in the middle of the night near the Pentagon.

Yonathan Melaku, 22, was discovered after 1 a.m. Friday inside Arlington National Cemetery, hours after it had closed. He was detained for trespassing after becoming uncooperative, authorities said, though he has not been charged. Authorities believe Melaku acted alone.

Investigators in protective white suits and bomb-sniffing dogs were going through his brick town-home in suburban Washington and removing evidence. Melaku is a naturalized citizen originally from Ethiopia.

Nothing suspicious was found in Melaku's car, a red 2011 Nissan that was parked in bushes near a Pentagon parking lot, authorities said, but they became alarmed by several items in his backpack.

Melaku had a bag with a substance that appeared to have contained a couple pounds (kilos) of ammonium nitrate, a chemical compound widely used in fertilizers and can be used in explosives with the correct concentration, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the investigation.

The official said there was nothing else in the bag that could have contributed to an explosion.

The FBI said the items were non-explosive, but were undergoing further testing at the laboratory in Quantico.

Melaku joined the Marine Corps Reserves in September 2007 and is currently listed as a lance corporal and motor vehicle operator, according to the FBI. He has not been deployed overseas. He has received the National Defense Service Medal and the Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal.

Neighbors said they had seen Melaku and his father occasionally driving taxicabs but did not know them well and never saw anything unusual.

Marion Randolph, who lives down the street, was not overly concerned about the police activity Friday, but said, "It's still unnerving to have an individual like this in your neighborhood."