Social media manager Ryan Chamberlain arrested in San Francisco
A SOCIAL media manager wanted over possession of explosives was “taken down hard” by law enforcement officers after a three-day manhunt.
A SOCIAL media manager wanted in the US over possession of explosives was “taken down hard” after a three-day manhunt.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation finally caught up with San Francisco man Ryan Kelly Chamberlain II, 42, on Monday night.
News of a nationwide alert issued by FBI for his arrest on suspicion of possessing explosives, has shocked his friends and colleagues.
Chamberlain had worked for years as a political consultant and had recently managed social media for the San Francisco Chronicle and a music rights consultancy group.
Just hours before his arrest Chamberlain posted an apparent suicide note on his Facebook page, which recounted his battle with depression. He also sent a message titled “Goodbye” to his friends, in which he discusses his childhood struggles and frustrations with women and job hunting.
“I’d give my all to a girl and she’d take it and run. I’d bust my ass at a job, but the company would fail, the economy would drop out, the campaign would lose ... or it would win and leave me behind,” he wrote in the note.
According to the Chronicle he was arrested near Crissy Field, a waterfront area of San Francisco, and was taken to a police station where he was booked on suspicion of possessing explosives in violation of federal law.
A witness to the arrest said Chamberlain looked “pretty surprised and frantic”.
“He was asking for help,” said Morgan Manos, a driver who recognised Chamberlain, and said he looked scared.
“They took him down hard.”
A police bomb squad also used a robot to search his car.
The law enforcement source said Chamberlain got out of the car and was arrested without incident, although Manos’ video showed the man struggling as officers wrestled him to the ground.
Multiple agencies, including hazardous materials crews, searched Chamberlain’s apartment in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighbourhood on Saturday, blocking off the street to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for much of the day.
Lee gave no details Sunday about the nature of the investigation, but said authorities believed Chamberlain was acting alone.
His boss at a music rights consultancy group said he last contacted her Friday to remind her to deposit his pay at a new bank account. Brooke Wentz said the conversation was uneventful and that she was “tremendously dumbfounded” by the news that the contractor she hired to handle her company’s social media accounts was wanted by the FBI.
“He’s a nice guy,” Ms Wentz told The Associated Press.
Ms Wentz said it didn’t seem like Chamberlain was staying in the apartment on Jackson Street. She said when she mailed him his pay in April, he told her he would have to go the apartment to pick it up. She said he seemed under financial pressure because he told her that two friends who were leasing his apartment left without telling him and he had to scramble to pay for two rentals.
“I wondered what kind of friends would do something like that? I tried to ask him about the situation but he was kind of evading my question,” Ms Wentz said.
Randy Bramblett, a personal trainer and professional athlete in San Francisco, said he became friends with Chamberlain through Project Sport, a local sports marketing company. The company let Chamberlain go when it was sold in November and he soon lost touch with friends and stopped returning calls and messages, Mr Bramblett said.
“We all knew that he was a very emotional guy and when he didn’t get his own way he would say ‘Screw you, I’m going to go do my own thing’,” Mr Bramblett said. “I’ve never seen him be violent, ever, but I would definitely say that maybe emotionally and mentally he was a little unstable.”
Chamberlain had worked for years as a political consultant on Democratic campaigns, Bramblett said.
He also worked as an independent contractor for The San Francisco Chronicle during the 2012 NFL season, doing social media to boost coverage for the San Francisco 49ers Insider iPad app, the newspaper said.
A spokeswoman for the University of San Francisco said Chamberlain taught a “Grassroots Mobilization” course to graduate students in the Public Affairs program in 2011. Anne-Marie Devine said Chamberlain taught for one semester, and wasn’t invited to teach another course. She said she didn’t know why because hundreds of adjunct professors come and go at the university.
The affidavit and search warrant used to enter Chamberlain’s home remain under seal.
‘Don’t ever say that’: Trump erupts at reporter
Donald Trump has reacted furiously to a theory, currently gaining traction on Wall Street, that he “always chickens out”.
‘Paper ADF’: Dire warning to Australia
A leading defence think tank has issued a dire warning about Australia’s readiness for war as the Indo-Pacific heats up.
US to begin revoking Chinese student visas
The US says it will “aggressively revoke visas” of Chinese students, including those with “connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields”.