PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Beaverton man who set off an explosive device, which injured federal officers and himself in October 2017, was sentenced to 40 years in a federal prison on Friday.
Jason Schaefer, 28, was found guilty of assaulting two members of the Portland Joint Terrorism Task Force, in addition to multiple crimes related to possessing and using explosive materials, after a 6-day trial earlier this year. He represented himself in federal court.
Schaefer had been the focus of an FBI investigation for the possession of explosives. In September of 2017, federal agents learned that he had purchased a list of products that raised concern, including explosive liquid, remotes to set off fireworks, more than 100 electric matches and at least a pound of hexamine, which can be used to make home-made explosives and is frequently used in suicide bombings.
On October 11, 2017, agents served him a search warrant at his home on NW Rock Creek Circle. There, investigators found several items used to make explosives, including electronic matches. When deputies told Schaefer he was under arrest he threatened them. He tried to flee, but was stopped just a few blocks from the Rock Creek Apartments. That’s when he set off an explosive device that he was holding in his hand.
The blast injured a Washington County deputy and another law enforcement agent attempting to arrest him. Both were members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which includes FBI special agents as well as state and local police departments and sheriff’s offices.
Schaefer lost multiple fingers on his hand and the deputy involved suffered hearing loss.
Despite the explosion, Schaefer was arrested at the scene. Officers would later find a second explosive in his car, according to prosecutors.
Schaefer’s 40 year prison sentence will be followed by another 5 years of supervised release, according to the District of Oregon’s US Attorney’s Office.
“The government may never fully know why Mr. Schaefer amassed a large quantity of dangerous precursor chemicals and the components needed to make a large, remote-detonating bomb. What we do know is that on October 11, 2017, he tried to kill two federal task force officers attempting to make a lawful arrest,” said Billy Williams a federal attorney for the District of Oregon.