A Texas woman is accused of sending homemade bombs to President Barack Obama and Texas Governor Greg Abbott in 2016 that prosecutors say could have maimed or killed the two leaders.
Court documents filed in district court in Houston last week show Julia Poff was indicted earlier this month on six counts, including mailing injurious articles and transporting explosives with the intent to kill and injure.
"Poff presents a real safety risk to witnesses and others in the community," U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy wrote in a five-page order outlining the case.
An explosive-laden package mailed to Obama in October 2016, while he was still in office, contained hair that an FBI crime lab matched to one of Poff's cats, the judge wrote in the detention order.
Poff is said to have expressed dislike for Obama, who is a Democrat, according to the order. Packages sent to Obama and the U.S. Social Security Administration in Maryland were both stopped in screening, according to Houston TV station KPRC.
In October 2016, Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, opened a third package that also was rigged to explode, but it failed to detonate.
The judge's detention order said Poff was upset with Abbott because she believed that in his previous role as state attorney general, he played a part in her inability to receive support from her ex-husband.
It was unclear what type of support Poff might have sought. The state attorney general's office has a division that handles requests for child support after a divorce or separation.
The packages sent to Obama, the Social Security Administration and Abbott contained pyrotechnic powder, and investigators found a large amount of fireworks at Poff's home in Brookshire, west of Houston, the court order said.
Poff is represented by a public defender, who could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
She is scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on Jan. 2.
