Authorities have charged a 33-year-old man in connection with an explosion that occurred at the Stellantis factory in Windsor, Ontario, Canada earlier this month.
Police were issued with a search warrant for the home of James Harris and found the man at the residence at around 8:30 a.m. While the investigation is still ongoing, Harris has been charged with explosion/disregard for human life, intention to cause explosion likely to cause serious bodily harm or death and intention to cause explosion likely to cause serious damage to property, the Windsor Police Service confirmed.
The explosion occurred on November 4 at approximately 5:45 p.m. It prompted a pause in production and forced Stellantis to evacuate the facility. Police found a detonated device in a vacant second-floor storage area on the west side of the plant.
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“We want to thank the Windsor Police Department and the entire task force for their swift response in investigating this incident and helping to ensure the safety of our workforce,” Stellantis spokeswoman LouAnn Gosselin said in a statement. “We remain grateful that no one was harmed as a result of this deliberate action.”
The explosion occurred in the midst of tension between Stellantis and Canadian autoworkers union Unifor over the carmaker’s stipulations that all workers at its Canadian facilities need to get a Covid-19 vaccination or could be terminated.
“Over the last couple of weeks, there have been some incidents going on in the plant-based on anxieties,” local union president Dave Cassidy said in the immediate aftermath of the explosion. “I know we have had some hard news as of late, but any lashing out in the facilities cannot and will not be accepted and needs to stop.”
