A Daly City man accused of lighting a fire at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco on New Year’s Day allegedly told FBI agents in an interview after his arrest that he had been hearing voices in Chinese, according to court documents.
Details of the interview were contained in an affidavit submitted by FBI agent Michael Eldridge with a criminal complaint filed by US prosecutors in federal court in San Francisco today against Yan Feng, 39, of Daly City.
Feng was charged in the complaint with two counts of maliciously damaging property by means of fire and willfully damaging property belonging to or occupied by a foreign government.
Special Agent in Charge David Johnson, the chief of the FBI’s San Francisco office, announced today that Feng surrendered to authorities on Friday.
The fire at the consulate, located at 1450 Laguna St., occurred at about 9:30 pm Wednesday. The building was damaged but no one was injured.
Eldridge said in the affidavit that Feng called Daly City police on Friday and “identified himself as the individual who ‘made the fire’ in front of” what Feng called the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco.
Daly City police went to Feng’s address and arrested him, the agent said.
Eldridge wrote that in an interview with federal agents later that day, Feng “stated in substance that he targeted the Chinese consulate because all the voices he had been hearing were in Chinese and the Chinese consulate had to have been involved.”
The interviewers were Eldridge, two other FBI agents, and an agent from the US State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.
Feng allegedly told the agents he drove to San Francisco in his minivan, a green 2002 Honda Odyssey, between 8 and 9 pm on Jan. 1, filled three containers with gasoline bought at a station on Geary Boulevard, and parked in front of the consulate.
Eldridge said Feng told the agents he placed the containers near the front entrance of the building, poured gasoline on the front door and front steps, and attempted to light a fire with his passport, but the fire did not ignite.
Feng then used a large black lighter to ignite one of the containers and saw a large fire flare up in front of the consulate, according to the affidavit. He then drove back to Daly City, Eldridge wrote.
The affidavit cited surveillance videos that allegedly showed an individual parking a minivan in front of the consulate and placing objects near the front entrance.
On one video, “the individual bends over the objects and, at approximately 9:32 pm, a large fireball ignites from the individual’s location at the front entrance of the Chinese consulate,” Eldridge wrote.
The two charges filed against Feng each carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison if he is convicted.
Johnson said at a San Francisco news conference on the arrest this morning that there is no indication the fire was motivated by terrorism, politics or civil rights concerns.
The consulate issued a statement saying, “We have noted the efforts made by the US side to investigate into the arson attack and require that the perpetrator be brought to justice.
“We will follow up closely with the US side on the trial. We urge the US side to learn lessons from this incident, take effective measures to ensure the safety, security and dignity of Chinese diplomatic and consulate missions and staff in the US and prevent the recurrence of similar incidents,” the statement said.
据美国哥伦比亚广播公司报道，根据法庭记录，1日晚中国驻旧金山总领馆纵火案嫌犯、来自加州戴利市的华裔美国公民冯严丰在接受美国联邦调查局审问时说，他在作案前听到用汉语发出的声音。
审问的各种细节都记录在联邦调查局特工迈克尔•埃尔德里奇（Michael Eldridge）递交的一份书面陈述中，与刑事诉状一起收录在旧金山联邦法庭对39岁的冯严丰提起的诉讼案卷中。冯被指控犯有纵火和蓄意破坏外国政府财产两项罪状。
联邦调查局旧金山办公室负责人戴维•约翰逊戴维•约翰逊（David Johnson）今天宣布，冯严丰是1月3日投案自首的。
领事馆纵火案发生在元旦晚上九点半，地点在拉古娜街（Laguna St.）1450号。房屋损毁但无人员受伤。
埃尔德里奇在书面陈述中说，冯3日打电话给戴利警局，说自己就是在中国驻旧金山总领事馆门前‘放火’的那个人。
于是，戴利市警察到冯严丰的住所将他逮捕。
埃尔德里奇在那天晚些时候与其他联邦特工一起对他进行了审问。在审问中，冯“称他之所以要烧中国领事馆是因为他当时听到的所有声音都是用中文说的，必须牵涉到中国领事馆”。参加审问的有埃尔德里奇，另外两位联邦调查局特工和美国国务院外交安全部门的一名特工。
据冯严丰说，2014年1月1日晚上8点多的时候，他开着自己的一辆绿色的2002年产的本田奥德赛（Honda Odyssey）汽车前往旧金山，在盖瑞大街（Geary Boulevard）的一处加油站买了三桶汽油，然后将车停在了领事馆门口。
埃尔德里奇说，冯严丰告诉他们，他把这几桶汽油放在领事馆的前门附近，在前门和阶梯上浇上汽油，准备用他的护照来点火，但没点着。
据书面陈述记载，冯随后就用一个大的黑色打火机点燃了一个油桶，目睹着领事馆门口燃起熊熊大火。然后他驱车返回戴利市。
书面陈述中还记录了监控视频信息，有一个人将一辆面包车停在领事馆前并且把几个物体放在领事馆前门处。
其中一个监控视频显示，“这个人在这些物品旁弯下腰，约9点32分时，在中国领事馆前门处，就在这个人的位置燃起熊熊大火。
冯被控诉的两项罪名如果成立，每一项都可能判高达5年的监禁。
在今天早上召开的关于逮捕嫌疑人的记者招待会上，约翰逊说，目前并没有迹象表明这次纵火与恐怖主义、政治或民权活动有关。
领事馆发表声明说：“中方注意到美方为处置此次纵火事件所作努力，要求美方依法严惩肇事者。中方将继续密切关注案件审理后续进展，并要求美方认真吸取教训，切实采取有效措施维护中国外交、领事人员和机构的安全和尊严，确保类似事件不再发生。”
