Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — A jury has convicted a former Navy SEAL with neo-Nazi beliefs of transporting fireworks throughout state traces with plans to shoot explosives at police throughout final 12 months’s “No Kings” protest in San Diego, federal prosecutors mentioned.
Following his conviction on Monday, Gregory Vandenberg was ordered held in custody till his sentencing listening to, which has not but been scheduled. He faces as much as 10 years in jail, in line with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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During a five-day trial in Albuquerque, New Mexico, prosecutors outlined Vandenberg’s intention to journey from El Paso, Texas, to California to injure regulation enforcement officers on the June 14 rally.
Investigators discovered messages on his telephone indicating he was offended with President Donald Trump as a result of he believed the U.S. authorities is managed by Israel and the Jewish individuals, in line with prosecutors. His house display screen on his telephone displayed an image of the Taliban flag.
FBI brokers testified that they discovered clothes and paraphernalia in Vandenberg’s automobile with anti-Israel slogans and neo-Nazi symbols, together with a flag for the militant group the Caucasian Front and a message in Latin saying “Judea must be destroyed.”
Vandenberg, 49, stopped at a journey heart close to Lordsburg, New Mexico, on June 12 and bought six giant mortar fireworks in addition to 72 M-150 firecrackers, that are designed to sound like gunfire. He advised the shop clerk that he had important information of explosives and prior particular operations forces expertise, and he outlined his intentions to hurt police on the upcoming demonstration, prosecutors mentioned.
Vandenberg, who had no secure employment and lived in his automobile, urged the clerk to affix him, in line with a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. While within the retailer, he wore a T-shirt with the phrase “Amalek” on the entrance, which he mentioned he designed particularly to imply “destroyer of Jews,” the assertion mentioned.
Store workers wrote down his license plate and contacted authorities. Vandenberg was arrested June 13 whereas sleeping in his automobile on the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. He advised FBI brokers he was touring for work, regardless of being unemployed, and visiting associates in Phoenix, prosecutors mentioned.
Vandenberg was convicted of transportation of explosives with intent to kill, injure or intimidate and tried transportation of prohibited fireworks into California. A telephone message was left Tuesday looking for remark from his lawyer, Russell Dean Clark.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison mentioned in a press release that the decision reveals that the federal government will prosecute those that intend to make use of violence to specific political opinions.
“People in this country are free to hold their own beliefs and to express them peacefully,” Ellison mentioned. “What they are not free to do is use explosives to threaten or terrorize others. Vandenberg intended to turn explosives into a tool of intimidation.”
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