Kenneth Roberts

"We will soon be the slaves and the machines will be the masters."

Kenneth Roberts is a serial bomber who appears in Empty Planet.

History
Kenneth was adopted at a young age. His adoptive mother died when he was eight. Several years later, his adoptive father needed a blood transfusion. When Kenneth tried to donate, it was discovered that they had nothing genetically in common. Before dying, his adoptive father admitted to Kenneth that he was adopted. Kenneth tried to find his birth mother but wasn't able to, since the records were sealed; however, he did find out that he was adopted in Youngstown, Ohio. Around the same time, he found out that postmodern literature professor and one-hit wonder science fiction writer, Ursula Kent, had put up her child for adoption there, the same year that Kenneth was adopted. This, combined with the plot of her novel, Empty Planet, made Kenneth believe Ursula Kent was, in fact, his biological mother. In order to be close to her, he moved to Seattle and studied under her at St. Denis University. He later joined the Freedom From Technology Brigade, a Seattle-based anti-technology activism movement which, at one point, was involved in the thrashing of computers at a research lab in Tacoma, Washington and sending floppy disc bombs to St. Denis University which exploded but didn't harm anyone.

Feeling that he still hadn't reached out to Ursula Kent, Kenneth decided to recreate events from Empty Planet in real-life. He started by placing a bomb (hidden in an umbrella) under the seat of a Dr. Emory Cooke, an artificial life scientist who had developed software mirroring the human reproduction system, but it was picked up by a teenager and taken to the driver before Kenneth detonated it, killing the two. Later, Kenneth heard a press conference (staged by the BAU intending to draw him out) where they claimed that nobody had taken the blame for the bomb, despite the fact that Kenneth had made calls to various news networks before detonating it. He then proceeded to call Gideon from a payphone near a gas station, calling himself Allegro. He then detonated a large bomb placed in the gas station, leaving a copy of his manifesto, A Guide To Practical Living, which contained some direct excerpts from Empty Planet and demanded that all machinery that has replaced American workers be stopped within a week. Reid then understood the connection between the bombings and the novel.

The following day, Kenneth succeeded in killing Dr Cooke by placing a pressure sensitive bomb under the seat of his car, ensuring that it would only kill him. He then called Gideon shortly before planting even more bombs in government buildings, such as a library and a post office (all of which were defused without incident), demanding that his manifesto would be published in The Seattle Ledger. After planting bombs at various government buildings, he attempted to kill Dr. Brazier, but she was saved by the authorities. Later that day, he snuck into St. Denis University and confronted Ursula Kent with his theory of being her son. He took her to the lecture room he had studied in, where she revealed that the child she gave up was a girl, meaning Kenneth couldn't be her son. He refused to accept this when the BAU and SWAT stormed in. Holding Ursula Kent hostage with a bomb, Kenneth demanded that they leave them alone. Meanwhile, a SWAT sniper snuck up to a high point and aimed at Kenneth's heart. Noticing the laser pointer, she threw herself in the bullet's pathway, saving Kenneth's life and injuring herself. She survived, and Kenneth, thrown off-guard by the shot, was arrested.

Empty Planet
Empty Planet is a fictional science fiction novel written by Professor Ursula Kent under the pseudonym David Hansberry. She was inspired to write it when she gave up her child for adoption. Its primary theme appears to be how machines replace human beings and inspired Kenneth to start his bombing campaign.

The novel takes place in a world where robots have found a way to reproduce with humans and taken over the world. The protagonist is a 12 year old boy named Allegro who forms a resistance army shortly after his father's suicide. The army defends humans against robots and also assassinates the scientists responsible for creating them. In the end, Allegro discovers that he is adopted and is reunited with his birth mother, who turns out to have become a robot, forcing Allegro to kill her. She is, in fact, proud of what he does, as told in her narration featured throughout the entire book, as if she was talking from beyond the grave.

Modus Operandi
Kenneth made simple pipe bombs with a fairly light explosive and used dried peas as shrapnel, ensuring that they wouldn't spread too far. He would also engrave a picture of a robot with an arrow through it into the bombs, the symbol being copied from a necklace belonging to Ursula Kent and the symbol for her book. He usually avoided human loss, except in the cases of Dr. Cooke and Dr. Brazier.

Profile
Kenneth was profiled as a personal-cause bomber, not unlike Ted Kaczynski, "the Unabomber", and, thus, was probably motivated by some underlying emotional conflict. He would live alone and possibly be self-employed. He would seem odd to those around him, angry, distant, and short-fused. He would be meticulous, highly organized, and smart.

Real-Life Comparisons
Kenneth Roberts appears to have been based on Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. They were both anti-technology believers (Roberts more than Kaczynski), only a few of their bombings killed someone, and they both wrote a manifesto. His use of the novel Empty Planet as a guide for his rampage appears to parallel Timothy McVeigh, who planned a series of attacks inspired by the novel The Turner Diaries.

Known Victims

 * Two killed, and seven injured, by the bus bomb:
 * M. Jenkins
 * B. Dunkle
 * Seven unnamed passengers
 * The gas station bomb: No casualties
 * Doctor Emory Cooke
 * Numerous people inside four government buildings
 * Doctor Betsy Brazier
 * Professor Ursula Kent

Appearances

 * Season Two
 * Empty Planet