Ex-Navy SEAL convicted of planning to fire explosives at police during San Diego ‘No Kings’ rally

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SAN DIEGO (AP) — A jury has convicted a former Navy SEAL with neo-Nazi beliefs of transporting fireworks across state lines with plans to shoot explosives at police during last year's “No Kings” protest in San Diego, federal prosecutors said.

Following his conviction on Monday, Gregory Vandenberg was ordered held in custody until his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. He faces up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

During a five-day trial in Albuquerque, New Mexico, prosecutors outlined Vandenberg's intention to travel from El Paso, Texas, to California to injure law enforcement officers at the June 14 rally.

Investigators found messages on his phone indicating he was angry with President Donald Trump because he believed the U.S. government is controlled by Israel and the Jewish people, according to prosecutors. His home screen on his phone displayed a picture of the Taliban flag.

FBI agents testified that they found clothing and paraphernalia in Vandenberg’s car with anti-Israel slogans and neo-Nazi symbols, including a flag for the militant group the Caucasian Front and a message in Latin saying “Judea must be destroyed."

Vandenberg, 49, stopped at a travel center near Lordsburg, New Mexico, on June 12 and purchased six large mortar fireworks as well as 72 M-150 firecrackers, which are designed to sound like gunfire. He told the store clerk that he had significant knowledge of explosives and prior special operations forces experience, and he outlined his intentions to harm police at the upcoming demonstration, prosecutors said.

Vandenberg, who had no stable employment and lived in his car, urged the clerk to join him, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. While in the store, he wore a T-shirt with the word “Amalek” on the front, which he said he designed specifically to mean “destroyer of Jews,” the statement said.

Store employees wrote down his license plate and contacted authorities. Vandenberg was arrested June 13 while sleeping in his car at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. He told FBI agents he was traveling for work, despite being unemployed, and visiting friends in Phoenix, prosecutors said.

Vandenberg was convicted of transportation of explosives with intent to kill, injure or intimidate and attempted transportation of prohibited fireworks into California. A phone message was left Tuesday seeking comment from his attorney, Russell Dean Clark.

Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison said in a statement that the verdict shows that the government will prosecute those who intend to use violence to express political beliefs.

“People in this country are free to hold their own beliefs and to express them peacefully,” Ellison said. “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.”