Law enforcement work on a scene after an explosion at the Santa Maria Courthouse in California on Sept. 25.The Associated Press
A California man who officials say threw a bag into a courthouse lobby that exploded, injuring five people this week, told law enforcement he had planned to kill deputies working security at the building and also a judge, according to court documents.
Nathaniel McGuire, 20, has been charged with maliciously damaging a building with an explosive, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said in a statement. He is expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday.
McGuire was arrested Wednesday outside the courthouse in the city of Santa Maria after throwing the bag as he yelled “Liberty or Death,” according to court documents. McGuire had been arrested last July on suspicion of illegal gun possession and was to be arraigned at the courthouse.
The explosion injured five people, including three who suffered burns. All were treated and released.
Santa Barbara County authorities evacuated a five-block radius of businesses, homes and a school after the explosion in Santa Maria, which is home to about 110,000 people in the central coast region.
It was not immediately known whether McGuire had an attorney, and his family could not be reached for comment.
McGuire told law enforcement after his arrest that he had gone to the courthouse planning to kill deputies working at the security desk and then go back to his car to get weapons and reenter the courthouse to kill a judge, federal officials said.
McGuire was arrested as he was trying to get into his car, which was parked nearby, and “yelled that the government had taken his guns and that everyone needed to fight, rise up, and rebel,” the statement said.
Authorities said they later found ammunition, a rifle, a suspected bomb, fireworks and 10 Molotov cocktails inside the car and other materials used in making explosives during a search of McGuire’s home.
“The idea of intentionally setting off an explosive device to do harm and avoid justice in the process shocks the conscience,” Akil Davis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s field office in Los Angeles, said in the statement.
The courthouse was closed and will reopen on Monday.