Suspect in Oklahoma recruiting office mentally incompetent

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A former Air Force senior airman suspected of setting off a pipe bomb outside an Air Force recruiting office in Oklahoma has been declared mentally incompetent for trial on federal charges.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank McCarthy on Tuesday ruled that 28-year-old Benjamin Roden had some type of “mental disease or defect,” making him unable to assist in his defense.

McCarthy ordered Roden be committed to a federal mental facility for evaluation.

A federal grand jury indicted Roden earlier this month on charges that include using an explosive to damage federal property, using an explosive to commit felonies and possessing unregistered destructive devices. No one was hurt in the July 10 explosion in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby.

Court records describe Roden as a disgruntled U.S. veteran who “hated the military.”