Brian R. McKain, 68, faces 12 misdemeanor charges after Pennsylvania State Police accused him of threatening to blow up a house while people were inside. He remains in Butler County Prison, unable to post bail, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 3, the Butler Eagle reported.
The charges include three counts each of harassment, reckless endangerment, terroristic threats and simple assault. Pennsylvania law defines terroristic threats to include communicating a threat to commit a crime of violence with intent to terrorize another. The statute also covers certain threats to cause an evacuation or serious public inconvenience, including conduct that causes terror with reckless disregard of that risk, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Those provisions describe the law; they do not establish the facts or legal basis of the allegations against McKain.
A preliminary hearing is an early step in the case, not a trial. At that hearing, a magisterial district judge reviews whether there is probable cause and whether the evidence is sufficient to send the case to Common Pleas Court, according to Pennsylvania state government’s court-process guide.
What police allege
According to the Eagle’s account of the affidavit, police were dispatched at 7:15 a.m. to the 100 block of McKain Lane for a possible weapons-related domestic incident. The affidavit describes an argument that began the prior evening between McKain and another person in the house. Police allege McKain threatened to fight and lunged at that person before someone else intervened.
Police further allege McKain went to the basement and returned with black powder and a torch, threatening to blow up the house with everyone inside. The report says he also allegedly threatened to get a gun after his release and kill everyone in the house. These are allegations; no finding of guilt is reported.
The federal regulatory classification offers limited context about the material mentioned in the allegation. ATF regulations classify black powder as a low explosive, which can be caused to deflagrate when confined. That general classification does not establish what material was present in this case or what happened, according to ATF regulations.
