Minneapolis man charged with manufacturing machine gun parts using 3D printer
Aaron Malik Cato (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office)
A 25-year-old man from Minneapolis has been federally charged for being in possession of and manufacturing auto sears, devices that are used to convert a semi-automatic firearm into a machine gun.
The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Andrew Luger, says that Aaron Malik Cato had four 3D printers at his residence and was in possession of several 3D-printed auto sears.
In addition to the homemade devices, authorities say Cato also possessed the parts to make up to 10 more devices. Customs and Border Patrol agents intercepted a package sent from Taiwan to Minneapolis destined for Cato, and law enforcement conducted a controlled delivery of the package.
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Law enforcement then served a search warrant on Cato’s residence and found seven firearms, three of which had auto sears installed, making them machine guns under federal law.
Cato has already made his first court appearance for this case and has been ordered to stay in detention pending further legal proceedings.
The arrest comes as local and federal authorities are combating a surge in automatic gunfire across the Twin Cities.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in partnership with the Minneapolis Police Department and other federal agencies.