The family of a 17-year-old boy at the center of a federal hazardous materials investigation at an Irvine home rejects the suggestion that he may have threatened public safety, according to their attorney.
“People are afraid of what they don’t understand,” the lawyer, Charles M. Ray, said in a brief interview on Saturday. “This is someone who is going to help cure cancer one day. He is not a terrorist.”
Ray described the equipment inside the teenager’s home-based laboratory as benign, including items such as Bunsen burners and other materials “found in a sixth-grade lab”.
He said his immediate priority is having the family be allowed to return home. As of Saturday, they’ve been barred from the residence since Monday, when the investigation began, Ray said.
“He has a future ahead of him,” Ray said of the teen. “He wants to go to medical school.”
Ray said he did not know how the FBI became involved in the investigation or what specific items were being removed from the house.
As of Saturday afternoon, the boy’s YouTube channel contained three videos, the most recent posted three months ago, featuring chemistry demonstrations and tutorials.
In a written statement released Friday evening, Ray said, “On behalf of the family and their 17-year-old son, we categorically deny the allegations that have been suggested and reject any implication that he poses a threat in any way, shape, or form.
“There is no credible evidence to support the narrative that has begun to circulate,” Ray said, adding that the situation appears to have been “mischaracterized and escalated into something it simply is not.”
The statement comes after a five-day response by the FBI’s hazardous materials teams and other federal and local agencies at a home in the guard-gated Altair community near the Great Park. The investigation began Monday, Feb. 23, after the landlord reported what were described as suspicious items at the residence to Irvine police.
Authorities have said little publicly about what was found inside the home on Cartwheel near Iluna. Irvine police previously said the situation began “after a juvenile at the residence mixed unknown chemicals.”
A source familiar with the investigation told the Southern California News Group on Friday that the investigation involved a student at the University of California, Irvine, and that chemical formulas written on a whiteboard heightened concerns and prompted the FBI to bring in experts from Quantico, Virginia.
Ray described the teen as an academically advanced student in his fourth year of coursework “at a well-regarded local college” with aspirations of becoming a physician. He is “deeply committed to science, particularly biology and chemistry,” the statement said, and spends his time studying and developing educational content for his YouTube channel.
While the family said it respects law enforcement and the responsibility officers carry, Ray said, the circumstances surrounding the response are being reviewed by his office as events continue to unfold.
“We are prepared to address any charge(s), if they are even brought, through the proper legal process and remain confident that the truth will prevail,” the statement said.
The family declined further comment.
Law enforcement officials have not announced any arrests or filed charges as of Saturday. Authorities have repeatedly said there is no known threat to public safety, and there have been no evacuations, though Irvine police spokesman Kyle Oldoerp said the investigation is expected to continue through the weekend.
