A 20-year-old California man, Nathaniel McGuire, is facing federal charges related to a courthouse bomb attack that left five individuals injured. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles has accused McGuire of maliciously damaging a building with an explosive device. He is scheduled to appear in federal court in Los Angeles for the charges on Friday.
Following McGuire’s arrest at a courthouse in Santa Maria, where he was originally set to be arraigned on a gun charge, an explosion occurred, damaging the building and injuring five individuals. McGuire allegedly threw a bag into the courthouse lobby, causing an explosion, before leaving the premises. He was arrested as he attempted to access his parked car nearby. Authorities reported that McGuire shouted about the government seizing his guns and called for rebellion as he was apprehended.
Subsequent searches conducted by federal authorities revealed ammunition, a rifle, a suspected bomb, fireworks, and 10 Molotov cocktails inside McGuire’s vehicle, along with materials indicative of bomb-making at his residence. In a court document, McGuire allegedly confessed to planning an attack on deputies at the courthouse security desk and expressed intentions to target a judge inside the courthouse, shouting “Liberty or Death.”
Akil Davis, an assistant director at the FBI office in Los Angeles, described the act as shocking and condemned McGuire’s planned violence to evade justice. McGuire’s prior arrest in July on suspicions of illegal gun possession led to his scheduled arraignment at the courthouse in Santa Maria, where the bomb attack transpired. Following the incident, authorities evacuated a five-block radius encompassing businesses, residences, and a school in the city, which has a population of approximately 110,000 residents in the central coast region.
As a result of the explosion, the courthouse was closed and is set to reopen on Monday, ensuring the safety and security of the public and personnel.
