An Alabama man was arrested on Wednesday and charged with detonating an explosive device outside the state attorney general’s office in Montgomery earlier this year, the Justice Department said.
The man, Kyle B.D. Calvert, 26, of Irondale, Ala., was indicted on two counts of malicious use of an explosive and possession of an unregistered destructive device, according to documents unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. He espoused antigovernment views and had acknowledged on social media that he had “violent impulses,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors say that Mr. Calvert detonated the device early on Feb. 24 outside the attorney general’s office in downtown Montgomery. If convicted, he would face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
It was not immediately clear if Mr. Calvert had a lawyer.
“No injuries or major damage to nearby buildings were reported,” the department said on Wednesday in a news release, noting that federal and state law enforcement found “remnants of the device” when they responded to the scene.
Court documents describe video footage that captured Mr. Calvert — a tall, slender individual wearing a dark jacket, hat, mask and large circular goggles — arriving in the area of the Alabama State House just before 3 a.m. on the morning of the explosion.
The footage showed his placing on state buildings stickers that advocated various political ideologies, according to the court documents, including one that included the phrase “Support your local antifa,” referring to the far-left antifascist movement.
At 3:35 a.m., Mr. Calvert, who appeared to have a limp, was seen heading to the attorney general’s office, according to the documents. Seven minutes later, surveillance footage captured a “large explosion,” prosecutors said, noting that he then made a getaway in a silver sedan.
Investigators later found that the device had been made from “a coffee container-like vessel,” with insulation material soaked in a flammable liquid, a mortar, firecrackers and nails, which, according to prosecutors, were added to the device to “increase its destructive capabilities.”
Prosecutors said that Mr. Calvert’s social media pages showed his wearing the same thick-rimmed goggles as in the surveillance footage and discussing stickers identical to those placed on the government buildings, with messages about abolishing private property, toppling hierarchies and supporting antifascism.
One white sticker read “EAT THE RICH,” with the “A” in the shape of the anarchy symbol, according to the documents. Another showed an older adult, holding an AK-47 rifle, and the words, “ARM THE HOMELESS,” prosecutors said.
Around two weeks before the explosion, Mr. Calvert posted a video to social media in which he acknowledged, “I am impulsive by nature in some way that can often be violent,” according to the documents. “Some might call those intrusive thoughts, some might just call them violent impulses,” he added.
In another video, he expressed his anger at the government, prosecutors said. Co-workers, they added, described Mr. Calvert as a “loner,” who avoided eye contact and was “consistently late to work.” They did not describe the nature of his work or name any business.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Alabama attorney general, Steve Marshall, said that he and his staff breathed “a collective sigh of relief this morning knowing that this individual has been taken off the streets.”
He added, “I think it is safe to say that this was not a random act of violence.”
