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Feds charge 20-year-old suspect in California courthouse attack that left five injured

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on September 28, 2024

(SANTA MARIA, Calif.) — The man who allegedly threw an explosive device inside a California courthouse where he was set to be arraigned, which left five injured, has been federally charged, officials announced on Friday.

Santa Barbara resident Nathaniel James McGuire, 20, was charged with maliciously damaging a building by means of explosive, the U.S. District Attorney’s office announced.

McGuire allegedly lunged through the Santa Maria Courthouse doors on Wednesday, tossed a small bag past the weapons screening station, and the bag exploded as it hit the floor outside of the local arraignment room, according to the criminal complaint. When McGuire entered the courthouse, he yelled “Liberty or death,” according to the DA’s office.

McGuire left on foot after the explosion and was quickly detained by Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies while he was trying to access a red Ford Mustang car parked outside the building, according to police. McGuire allegedly yelled that the government had taken his guns and that everyone needed to fight, rise up, and rebel, the complaint said.

In a recorded interview with investigators, McGuire said he arrived at the courthouse with the intention to kill deputies working the security desk inside the courthouse, the complaint alleged.

McGuire allegedly told investigators he was going back to the car to get a shotgun, a lever action rifle, and Molotov cocktails and he planned on reentering the courthouse to kill a judge, the complaint said.

A search of the car revealed a shotgun, a rifle, more ammunition, a suspected bomb and 10 Molotov cocktails, according to the complaint. Law enforcement later rendered the bomb safe.

“This defendant’s alleged misconduct was chilling. 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,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.

The suspect’s alleged motivation in the explosion “appeared to have stemmed from a recent arrest” by the sheriff’s office, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Craig Bonner said during a press briefing Wednesday evening.

In that case, McGuire was arrested for alleged firearms violations on July 28, Bonner said. Deputies had seized a “loaded and concealed revolver that was in McGuire’s pants pocket and was not registered to him,” Bonner said.

If convicted on his federal charge, McGuire faces a minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, according to the complaint.