Chad Brown

"You understand why I had to show everybody how vulnerable we are!"

Chad Brown is a terrorist who appeared in Amplification.

Background
Chad Brown started studying at the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland in 2004 and spent the next five years as an on-and-off Ph.D. candidate. In Amplification, it is revealed that he had an unsteady job at a book store, has an estranged sister, had been arrested twice at protest rallies, and had a girlfriend to whom he proposed but was rejected. She later filed a restraining order against him. Prior to Amplification, he applied for a civilian position at Fort Detrick four times, but failed the psychological evaluation every time; whenever he was asked whether it was appropriate to sacrifice a few to save many, he always answered "yes". He wrote a thesis was on anthrax attacks, like the Amerithrax attacks in 2001, and how easy it was to make anthrax at home. He asked Dr. Lawrence Nichols, an expert in the field who had been demoted to working with the influenza, for assistance. He was glad to help, having missed teaching, and even showed him the private lab in his residence, where he had access to anthrax and had even developed a new, more aggressive strain. Nichols being an anti-WMD proliferation fanatic who wanted to show people how vulnerable America was, Chad took his teachings to the extreme and performed an anthrax attack on the book store he once worked at, hoping for a promotion but was rejected. Since the dose was very high, the victims died of organ failure before other symptoms became present. When Nichols found out, he and Chad had an argument, which resulted in Chad killing him.

Amplification
Unfazed by Nichols's death, Brown went to the Quiet Hills Park in Annapolis, Maryland, where he had proposed to his girlfriend, and released weaponized anthrax. A total of 25 people were infected, leading to a joint investigation by the BAU and U.S. Army scientists, led by General Lee Whitworth. The profile eventually led them to Dr. Nichols. However, when Morgan and Reid went to Nichols's residence, the latter found Nichols dead at the lab, as well as a broken container of anthrax. Knowing that he inhaled the released anthrax, Reid locked Morgan out of the lab. Investigating the lab, Reid realized that Nichols had a protegé, Chad Brown. In his thesis paper, he wrote about a mock anthrax attack on the D.C. subway system. Whitworth sent watchmen to the target area suggested by Brown, but Hotch argued that Brown had attacked places he associated with rejection and would therefore attack the subway line leading to Fort Detrick, to which he had applied for a job but failed the psychological evaluation. Whitworth was unconvinced, but he accompanied Hotch and Morgan to the subway line suggested by Hotch, where they found Brown and confronted him. Just as they were about to make the arrest, however, Whitworth stopped them, wanting to take Brown into custody so he could help find a cure for the anthrax strain. When he talked Brown into giving up the bag of anthrax-filled light bulbs he had brought with him, Derek made the arrest; the whole intervention had been staged in order to give Brown fake validation and get him to surrender. Reid, who had deduced that Nichols had hidden a cure for the anthrax strain in his inhaler, was cured along with the 4 surviving infected victims. A sample of the anthrax was seen being placed inside a massive storage vault.

Modus Operandi
The anthrax strain used by Brown was highly aggressive, poisoned the lungs, caused organ failure, and aphasia, a speech impediment. He targeted places that he associated with rejection.

Profile
Chad Brown and Dr Nichols both fit the profile of a homegrown terrorist, not unlike the Unabomber and the Amerithrax killer. Prentiss described this type of UnSub as "myopic zealots" who are convinced that their belief is the truth. The UnSub would work in the science and/or defense community, have access to his own workspace and the chemicals and equipment needed to produce anthrax, have worked overtime lately in preparation for his attack, and recently suffered some professional humiliation, like being demoted or fired. He would be secretive, dramatic, and even a little paranoid. He would also have preached a lot about future anthrax attacks on the U.S., know every detail about the Amerithrax attacks, and what that perpetrator could've done better. He would have taken protective medication recently, even beyond what his job required. He would also have betrayed his loved ones for his cause and may recently have separated or divorced. The attack locations would have some personal significance. The profile led the authorities to Dr Nichols, who taught Brown and made the anthrax together with him. Brown's goal with the attack was to show how vulnerable America was to more terrorist attacks.

Known Victims

 * Killed three people at the book store he once worked at with a large dose of anthrax. The victims are:
 * Albert Franks
 * Gale Mercer
 * Martha Finestein
 * Doctor Lawrence Nichols
 * Infected 25 people in the Quiet Hills park; four of them were cured. Named victims are:
 * Abby
 * Danny
 * Ethan
 * Jason
 * Melinda
 * Spencer Reid
 * Numerous people at a subway line

Appearance

 * Season Four
 * Amplification