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Teen accused in attempted backpack bomb pleads not guilty

(Chris Caldwell | The Spectrum | The Associated Press) In this Monday, June 18, 2018 photo, Officer Gage Schimbeck, Pine View Middle School Resource Officer and St. George Police Bomb Squad, looks over photographs as he testifies in St. George, Utah, during a preliminary hearing for a 16-year-old boy accused of bringing a incendiary device to Pine View High School. The Utah teenager told police that he tried to blow up a homemade device in his backpack at school because he'd been looking at Islamic State propaganda and wanted to cause fear, according to a video of the conversation shown in court Monday.

(Chris Caldwell | The Spectrum | The Associated Press) In this Monday, June 18, 2018 photo, Officer Gage Schimbeck, Pine View Middle School Resource Officer and St. George Police Bomb Squad, looks over photographs as he testifies in St. George, Utah, during a preliminary hearing for a 16-year-old boy accused of bringing a incendiary device to Pine View High School. The Utah teenager told police that he tried to blow up a homemade device in his backpack at school because he'd been looking at Islamic State propaganda and wanted to cause fear, according to a video of the conversation shown in court Monday.

By The Associated Press
  | Aug. 2, 2018, 5:41 p.m.
| Updated: 5:42 p.m.

St. George • A teenager accused of trying to blow up a homemade backpack bomb at a St. George high school after looking at Islamic State propaganda has pleaded not guilty.

The Spectrum newspaper in St. George reports the 16-year-old boy entered his plea Wednesday and is due back in court Aug. 22.

The teen is charged with felony attempted murder and using a weapon of mass destruction, as well as misdemeanor graffiti and abuse of a flag.

The charges were filed after the smoking backpack was found in a common area of Pine View High School in March. It failed to explode.

Investigators found no known connections between the boy and the terror group.

He’s also charged with spray-painting “ISIS is comi_” on a Hurricane High school wall in February plus cutting up an American flag and replacing it on a flagpole with a homemade ISIS flag.

By The Associated Press