Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Director for the Department of Homeland Security, Samana Semo Ve’ave’a told members of the House Homeland Security that the Territory’s terrorist law is a slap on the wrist and the FBI is seriously reviewing all information from the May bomb threat against the territory’s Ports.

Samana’s statement was made during a House Homeland Security hearing this past Monday where he was questioned by lawmakers about many issues regarding the security of the territory, including the May 31 bomb threat, which shocked the whole community.

According to Samana, the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) is seriously reviewing all information regarding the case of a man who has been charged in connection with the false bomb threat on May 31, which prompted the evacuation of the port and the airport.

There is a possibility that the FBI office in Washington, D.C. will be prosecuting this case once they finalize their investigation.

Samana, along with Deputy Commissioner, Jerry Letuli appeared before the House Homeland Security Committee this Monday to answer questions regarding any updates on the bomb threat.

Itu’au Faipule Logoitu’au Mark Atafua said the bomb threat that day was very disturbing and scary. Everyone was panicked, while some were confused about the information that was shared by many on social media.

Some members of the committee told Samana during the hearing that up until now, they are still in the dark on the outcome of the case and whether anybody was ever prosecuted.

(See Samoa News issue July 1, 2022 for details on the arrest and charging of Lepuia’i Allen Mayer for making a false bomb report.)

Samana said a man was taken into custody on the afternoon of the same date and he was later charged by the government. He described what happened on that day as a “very serious threat” and his office, along with investigators from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) immediately conducted an investigation when they received the information about the bomb threat

He explained that they traced all the phone calls made by this man on the morning of May 31 and confirmed that all these phone calls were made by the same person using the same phone.

Samana said he reached out to the FBI office in Honolulu and asked if they would prosecute the case. The FBI office in Honolulu refused to take the case due to the circumstances of the case, however, when he took his request to the FBI’s office in Washington, they accepted and were willing to take over the case.

According to Samana, the FBI office in Washington is working on the case and once they finalize their investigation, the suspect will be transported to the United States to face prosecution.

Samana told members of the committee that the suspect in the bomb threat was arrested and charged, however, due to the nature of the charges against him — which are all misdemeanors, the court set bond at $2,000 and the suspect was able to post bond. He said the suspect is released on bond while his case is still pending in District Court.

According to Samana, the terrorist laws in the territory are not as strong as they should be. He also explained that if a person commits any terrorist act in American Samoa, that person can only be charged with misdemeanors charges, according to our laws.

Samana told lawmakers that it’s about time for the Fono to take this issue seriously and amend the law.

“This is not the first time this type of thing has happened in American Samoa. This is the second bomb threat we’ve had to deal with and in my own opinion based on our investigation and the information we collected, the first bomb threat in 2019 and the one on May 31st is from the same person,” Samana said.

Samana said the first bomb threat was back in 2019 when the Hawaiian Airline was about to land at the Pago Pago International Airport. He said he was not present for that bomb threat but based on the information he received, it was a very dangerous situation for our people that night.

Members of the committee echoed Samana’s statement and agreed that it’s about time to look at the law and see what needs to be done to amend the law.

BACKGROUND

Lepua’i Allen Mayer, who is the former manager of Pacific Shipping Services (PSS) convicted by the High Court in 2015 for embezzling $200,000 from the company and who also has a pending criminal case in Court — also for embezzlement and stealing was charged with public peace disturbance, a false bomb report, harassment and obstruction of government operations, all class A misdemeanors, punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

During his initial appearance hearing, Mayer entered a not guilty plea to all charges. His pretrial conference is scheduled for Aug. 30 at 11a.m. He is currently free on bail of $2,000.