Former Art Institute student arrested after allegedly having bomb-making materials

A pregnant woman arrested in her New York apartment over the weekend after police allegedly found bomb-making materials, assorted weapons and a document entitled “The Terrorist Encyclopedia” in the residence, recently studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Morgan Gliedman, 27, and her boyfriend, Aaron Greene, 31, were both arrested Saturday in their Greenwich Village apartment, where investigators allegedly found a plastic container with 7 grams of HMTD, a highly explosive white powder used in bomb making, police and prosecutors said. Investigators also retrieved a collection of pages with a cover page entitled “The Terrorist Encyclopedia” and a booklet entitled, “Deadly Homemade Weapons,” according to court documents.
On her Facebook page, Gliedman claimed to have attended SAIC and earned a master’s degree in creative writing, according to CNN. The Facebook page was later removed.
One SAIC professor, who didn’t want to be identified, recalled meeting Gliedman.
“When I knew her here, I had no indication she had any political interest at all,” he said. “I didn’t know her well.”
Gliedman penned several articles while at SAIC in 2009, including one entitled: “Poor and Bored in 2009: Start enjoying life as a starving artist!”
The article, which offers tips on cheap ways to enjoy Chicago, makes one reference to politics — suggesting a trip to a North Side bar for twice-monthly meetings of the Chicago chapter of “Drink Liberally,” for those interested in drinking beer and discussing “progressive issues.” The group no longer meets at the bar, an employee there said Wednesday.
Rachel Pomberg, an SAIC spokeswoman, confirmed that Gliedman was a student at the school from fall 2008 to spring 2010 but said she did not graduate.
Investigators in New York said they have recovered no political writings in Gliedman and Greene’s apartment, and that the investigation was continuing into whether the couple had any larger plans or ties to radical groups.
Gliedman, the daughter of a prominent New York City physician, was nine months pregnant when she was arrested and gave birth shortly after her arrest.