Feds charge 20-year-old California man in bomb attack on county courthouse

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Federal prosecutors filed charges against a 20-year-old man who is accused of exploding a bomb in the lobby of a Santa Barbara County courthouse.

Nathaniel James McGuire, 20, was scheduled to appear for an arraignment in the Santa Maria courthouse on a firearms violation Wednesday, according to law enforcement officials. Instead, McGuire entered the courthouse and threw a backpack into the lobby, according the 9-page complaint, parts of which have been redacted. The bag exploded, and McGuire fled the scene on foot. Five people were injured in what prosectors are calling “an improvised explosive device.”

McGuire was quickly apprehended outside the courthouse while trying to get into his red Ford Mustang. According to the complaint, while being arrested, McGuire “yelled that the government had taken his guns and that everyone needed to fight, rise up, and rebel.” Inside the car, police found a veritable arsenal, including a shotgun, a rifle, a flare gun, ammunition, a box of fireworks, a “suspected explosive device,” 10 Molotov cocktails and a bong.

“This defendant’s alleged misconduct was chilling,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in a written statement. “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.”

According to the complaint, the bomb that exploded at the courthouse was “a can containing a black powder with nails glued to the outside,” wrapped in duct tape. A search of McGuire’s residence by the FBI yielded, according to prosecutors, “an empty metal can with nails glued to the outside, a duffel bag containing matches, black powder, used and unused fireworks, and papers that appeared to be recipes for explosive/energetic material.”

Questioned by law enforcement, McGuire said that he “arrived at the courthouse with the intention to kill the deputies working at the security desk inside the courthouse,” according to the complaint. As he threw his backpack, he says he yelled, “liberty or death!” He also said that after the explosion, he planned on going back to his car, getting his guns and going back to the courthouse to kill a judge.

According to the complaint, McGuire told the FBI that his laptop “would contain a list of grievances and goodbyes to his family and friends.”

McGuire faces one count of malicious damage to a building by means of an explosive. If convicted, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years.

A Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesperson also confirmed this week that McGuire’s being investigated for possible arson activity on the Central Coast.

Santa Maria is a small city of 110,000 about 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Its courthouse — which remains closed until Monday — was where pop star Michael Jackson was tried and acquitted of sexual abuse some 20 years ago.

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