AN ENGINEER has been arrested after allegedly derailing a train near a Los Angeles hospital ship to expose what he believed to be a government conspiracy.
Eduardo Moreno, 44, from San Pedro, California, is accused of ramming the train at full speed through the end of a track near the USNS Mercy on Tuesday afternoon.
The train crashed through a number of barriers and slid across a parking lot before coming to a stop around 250 yards from the USNS Mercy.
Nobody was injured in the incident.
The HSNS Mercy is a hospital ship currently stationed in the Port of Los Angeles to manage overflow from the area's hospitals amid the coronavirus epidemic.
A California Highway Patrol officer who witnessed the crash described watching the train "smash into a concrete barrier at the end of the track, smash into a steel barrier, smash into a chain-link fence, slide through a parking lot, slide across another lot filled with gravel, and smash into a second chain-link fence.”
Although no-one was hurt, the accident saw a significant amount of fuel leaked and requiring clean-up by firefighters and hazardous materials personnel.
'I WANTED TO WAKE PEOPLE UP'
The incident is now being investigated by the Port of Los Angles Police and the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
A criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court stated that Moreno admitted in interviews with police to intentionally crashed the train.
He reportedly believed the ship was being used not to treat coronavirus patients, but as part of a government conspiracy.
An arrest affidavit quoted him as saying: “You only get this chance once. The whole world is watching.
“I had to. People don’t know what’s going on here. Now they will.”
He reportedly said the ship was "suspicious" and that he did not believe it was “what they say it’s for”.
He added that he knew the crash would bring media attention and help to "wake people up".
Moreno has been charged on one count of train-wrecking, which carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years.
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