MAC suicide bomber harassed her in 2022
Heather Howett can't forget her encounters with Bruce Whitman
In 2022, Heather Howett was alone at home with the small dog she shared with her ex-husband. It was during COVID, so she was working in her home office when her front doorbell rang.
Howett is co-founder of Oregon Chai and today is CEO of Thaiwala, a Thai tea beverage.
The man at the door appeared to be an Amazon delivery person. He wore a blue hat and vest.
He was very friendly at first, Howett recalled; a nice-looking guy. Then he asked her, ‘Oh, hey, are you a member of the MAC?’ When she said she was he became agitated and aggressive.
The dog in her arms became upset as Whitman, the man who drove a rented car loaded with bombs into the Multnomah Athletic Club lobby early Saturday morning, continued to rail at her. She thought that he was going to kill her.
“He was really screaming. I tried to deescalate the situation, to be very chill, and close the door, but it went on for a good five minutes.” Her attempts to calm Whitman were unsuccessful. “You are on the board,” he accused her. “You got me fired.”
“He’s really enraged, and this just goes on for five minutes that seemed like forever.”
Eventually a group of about six male neighbors walked along the sidewalk below.
“Hey, you doing OK up there?” they called up.
Howett said their appearance is why Whitman eventually returned to his parked car below, a new convertible Mustang. Her neighbors later shared doorbell footage of Whitman arriving on the street and putting on the Amazon disguise.
Howett states that Whitman returned multiple times after the first incident, parking below her house for weeks.
“Everyone I talked to was directing to me the MAC, as if the MAC was handling the investigation. I didn’t really understand why,” Howett said. “I did talk to the police once but they said, “Well, you’re not hurt. You’re fine, right?’
The MAC, Howett said, “told me he was harmless. I asked, ‘does he have guns, tell me he doesn’t have guns.’”
No, he doesn’t have guns, they told her.
She assumes Whitman drove around her neighborhood and saw MAC stickers on her car, parked on Northwest Thurman Street.
She now keeps bear spray by her front door and has a new full-time dog. Her roommate is still queasy about being in the home alone.