Brooklyn Bomb Plot? Wires, Chemicals, Pipes Found In Cobble Hill Apartment, Police Say

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — Police arrested and charged a Brooklyn man on Wednesday night after they found what they believed to be bomb-making materials and multiple guns in plain view in his apartment, an NYPD spokesperson said. Officers thought there were materials to make bombs hiding in cylinders, but the NYPD Bomb Squad found nothing harmful inside, a police source said.

Christopher Hackett, a 44-year-old performance artist who lives on 217 Butler St. in Gowanus, was expected to be arraigned on charges of criminal possession of a weapon on Thursday night, police said.

Hackett is the director of a Brooklyn art group called Madagascar Institute that specializes in large-scale sculpting, rides, live performances and guerilla art events, according to the group's website. He is known to convert weapons into pieces of art, friends told the New York Daily News.

In 2004, Hackett caused an explosion in his apartment while working on an art project, and when cops came to his apartment, they found several firearms, according to a Brooklyn DA spokesperson. He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon and spent 90 days in jail, the spokesperson said.

According to a police source, officers were looking for a suspect wanted in connection with a separate burglary at Hackett's house. Hackett had given police permission to search his residence, which is when they found the weapons, the source said.

Among the weapons found in Hackett's apartment were a .22-caliber handgun, air pistol and zip gun, according to the police source. Only some of the weapons were used as evidence for the arrest, the source added.

Hackett did not confess to owning all the weapons, police said. However he did tell officers he was "trying to make a bomb to show how easy it is to walk around with one," a senior law enforcement source told Pix11, which first reported the arrest.

Photo via Google Maps, lead photo via Shutterstock