Metro

‘Bomb’ doctor busted

A New Jersey doctor who was with Occupy Wall Street protesters last year at Zuccotti Park was arrested and charged with possessing “bomb-making” chemicals and assault rifles in his home, sources said.

Roberto Rivera, 60, had a huge stash of a chemicals used for making bombs in his Ridgewood home, the sources said.

The FBI and local authorities raided Rivera’s house on Union Street on Friday and also discovered several assault rifles and a stun gun, the sources said.

Ridgewood police were first called to the home after getting a tip that potentially hazardous materials might be at the residence.

It was not clear what chemicals Rivera allegedly possessed or what he planned to do with them.

“It doesn’t appear he had a plan,” a source told The Post, adding that investigators were still trying to determine if Rivera had any accomplices.

But authorities were concerned about the chemicals and moved quickly to clear the home after discovering the stockpile, the sources said.

“It’s unusual for a guy who’s 60 years old to have all of this,” a source said.

Rivera, who is licensed to practice medicine in New York and has another home in Yonkers, was vocal in his support of the Occupy movement.

“I’m glad that at last the youth of America is able to stand on two feet and take a position that millions of people around the world have taken that they will not be intimidated by the capitalist free-market paradigm and they will fight against gross inequality in distribution of income and assets,” Rivera told Bloomberg News in October 2011.

Rivera also told the Tribeca Trib that he was a volunteer medic who walked around Zuccotti providing medical aid to those in need.

He was hit with several charges, including possession of a destructive device.

He is being held in Bergen County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Neighbors in Ridgewood said Rivera, who lives there with his girlfriend, had a combative personality and would cut people off while riding his bike around town.

“He just sneered at me,” said Elizabeth Western.

“He’s just one of those guys who just goes against everything.”

Additional reporting by Kenneth Garger