A Santa Barbara County man on Monday admitted to detonating a bomb at a courthouse in 2024 in retaliation for law enforcement seizing his firearms earlier that year.
Nathaniel James McGuire, 22, pleaded guilty to the use of a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of a building using an explosive, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. McGuire in his plea agreement said the bombing in Santa Maria, which injured three people and damaged the building, was intended to kill sheriff’s deputies.
At his March 1 sentencing hearing, McGuire faces up to life in prison. McGuire’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This defendant’s brazen act of terror resulted in physical, structural, and emotional harm, and could have had tragic consequences,” First Assistant United States Atty. Bill Essayli said in a statement. “Individuals who use bombs against law enforcement officials, judges, and other government personnel must be held accountable and face severe punishment for their actions.”
McGuire admitted that, on Sept. 24, 2024, he threw a backpack containing an explosive device past the courthouse security screening area toward Santa Barbara sheriff’s office deputies. The backpack slid between a victim’s legs and detonated outside a courtroom.
According to prosecutors, McGuire threw the bag and shouted, “Liberty or death.”
McGuire was at the courthouse to appear on a firearm charge stemming from a July 28 arrest, when Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies found him carrying an unregistered, loaded revolver, authorities said.
After detonating the bomb, McGuire left to retrieve two long guns and 10 Molotov cocktails from his vehicle and intended to re-enter the courthouse to kill deputies and “splatter” a judge, according to the plea agreement.
McGuire was apprehended as he was trying to access a red Ford Mustang car parked outside the building.
A witness previously told The Times that the explosion filled the courthouse with smoke and that a man being detained by law enforcement appeared to have ammunition falling out of his pockets as officials held him on the ground.
“I could hear the guy that apparently threw the bomb screaming at the top of his lungs and yelling,” said Shane Mellon, who represents a company that was scheduled to appear in court.
“This could have been much worse,” he said.
The courthouse sustained around $35,000 in damage and had to be closed for several days, according to the plea agreement.
McGuire also admitted to detonating the bomb in retaliation for various alleged government wrongs, including sheriff’s deputies seizing his firearms earlier that year.
At McGuire’s home, law enforcement found other materials related to his bomb making, according to the plea agreement.
“McGuire launched a vicious, terroristic assault on a court of law with the intent to kill law enforcement officers and a judge,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement. “His attack injured three people and, were it not for the quick action of court security and law enforcement, it could have been far worse.”
Times staff writer Salvador Hernandez contributed to this report.
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