A California man has pleaded guilty to charges connected to the detonation of a bomb at a Santa Maria courthouse in September 2024. Nathaniel James McGuire, 22, admitted to the attack, which he stated was in retaliation for law enforcement officers seizing his firearms earlier that year.
On Monday, McGuire pleaded guilty to one count of use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of malicious destruction of a building using an explosive. The incident involved McGuire throwing a backpack containing an explosive device into the courthouse, before being apprehended by law enforcement officers as he attempted to retrieve additional weapons from his car.
The detonation resulted in three injuries and caused $35,000 in damages to the courthouse. According to McGuire’s plea agreement, the attack was intended to kill sheriff’s deputies and a judge. He has been in federal custody since the attack.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg stated that McGuire “launched a vicious, terroristic assault on a court of law with the intent to kill law enforcement officers and a judge.” McGuire’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1 March, where he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.