MONTGOMERY, Alabama — An Alabama man has pleaded guilty to detonating an explosive device outside the state’s attorney general’s office, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert constructed the bomb out of nails, fireworks, and screws, and then put it outside from Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office in downtown Montgomery in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 24, according to a complaint filed by prosecutors. No people were injured and no nearby buildings were damaged.
The bomb was not discovered until Monday, February 26, according to a statement from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Arrested Calvert two weeks later.
“Public servants should never be the targets of attacks on the job,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. “The Department of Justice will not tolerate this behavior, and we will use every tool at our disposal to prevent these attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.”
Calvert, 26, pleaded guilty in federal court to malicious use of an explosive. Calvert faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Calvert’s federal defenders declined to comment in an email sent Friday.
Prosecutors said Calvert had placed stickers reflecting a wide range of political ideologies in the area, including the phrase, “Support your local antifa.” But the plea agreement Calvert signed said he has no “ties to antifa,” prosecutors said.
Calvert’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for the coming months.