A California man was charged Friday with damaging a building with explosives after he allegedly threw a bag containing a bomb into the lobby of a courthouse in Santa Maria, where it went off and injured five people.
Nathaniel James McGuire, a 20-year-old American citizen, was arrested shortly after the attack early on Wednesday as he tried to flee the Santa Barbara County Superior Courthouse. According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, which filed the federal charges against him on Friday, he “yelled that the government had taken his guns and that everyone needed to fight, rise up, and rebel” as he was arrested while trying to get into a Mustang he’d parked outside.
Santa Barbara Sheriff’s deputies spotted ammuntion, a flare gun, and a box of fireworks inside the car, and when they searched it, they found a shotgun, a rifle, more ammunition, a suspected bomb, and 10 Molotov cocktails.
“This defendant’s alleged misconduct was chilling,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “Not only did he injure five people and traumatize many more, but he possessed a cache of weapons that would have allowed him to wreak even greater destruction had he not been stopped. Attacks on our courts, law enforcement officers, and other public servants are unacceptable, and it is critical that those who carry out such assaults be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
McGuire had been scheduled to be arraigned on a gun charge at the courthouse later on Wednesday morning, KEYT reported. A bystander shot video of McGuire’s arrest outside the courthouse, and it showed ammunition falling out of his pockets and the body armor he was wearing beneath his jacket.
The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office charged him with attempted murder and manufacturing and using an explosive with attempt to kill. He was booked into the Santa Barbara jail without bond on Wednesday.
