Lt. Col. Eli Adams, Maj. Lyle Milliman and 1st Lt. Stacey Acapana of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District stand in front of a buffalo statue outside the VA Western New York Medical Center in Buffalo, New York, Nov. 10, 2021. The medical center hosted current and former members of the military during the ceremony to honor veterans and recognize their service for Veterans Day 2021. (Avery Schneider/U.S. Army)
(Tribune News Service) — A veteran from Buffalo, N.Y., who allegedly threatened in September to blow up Veterans Administration Medical Centers in Buffalo and Washington, D.C., has been arrested, federal officials said Friday.
A criminal complaint filed this week in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York accused Demont Coston, 56, of making the threats in phone calls and text messages.
The complaint alleges that Coston called the Veterans Crisis Line Sept. 12 and threatened to blow up the VA Medical Center in Buffalo.
Coston, court papers said, is recorded as telling the crisis line: “If I can’t get help, can’t nobody else get help. That’s how I feel. The next VA around me, ain’t gonna be the next VA around me no more.”
Coston had served in the U.S. Navy and received an Other Than Honorable discharge, making him ineligible for VA benefits and services, court papers said. Coston has tried to get benefits and was denied, according to the complaint.
Following the threat, Buffalo police tried to do a welfare check on Coston but were unable to find him.
Coston then threatened to blow up the VA Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 14, according to court papers.
Coston faces a penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if he is convicted, according to federal prosecutors.
He eventually was found at a family member’s home in Maryland.
A federal judge on Thursday placed Coston under 24-hour-a-day home incarceration, with GPS monitoring. Coston also was prohibited from applying for a pistol permit and from contacting the VA.
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