A former Navy SEAL with neo-Nazi beliefs faces up to 10 years in prison after being convicted of transporting fireworks across state lines with the intent to injure law enforcement at a “No Kings” protest in San Diego, authorities said.
FBI agents found messages on Gregory Vandenberg's phone indicating he was upset with President Trump because he believed the U.S. government is controlled by Israel and the Jewish people, according to the Justice Department.
Vandenberg, 49, planned to travel from El Paso to San Diego to set off damaging fireworks at a June 14 protest, prosecutors said.
Inside his car, agents found T-shirts with a neo-Nazi symbol printed on them, a flag of the Caucasian Front militant group, an Al Qaeda flag and a message in Latin that said “Judea must be destroyed,” among other paraphernalia displaying extremist and anti-Israel beliefs, prosecutors said.
FBI agents said they found clothing in Gregory Vandenberg's vehicle with anti-Israel slogans and neo-Nazi symbols.
(U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico)
On June 12, Vandenberg stopped at a travel center near Lordsburg, New Mexico, and purchased six large mortar fireworks, as well as 72 M-150 firecrackers, which are designed to sound like gunshots. He repeatedly expressed his desire to use fireworks to harm law enforcement at upcoming protests in California and urged the store employee to join him, prosecutors said.
Vandenberg, who did not have steady employment and lived in his car, told the employee he had significant knowledge about explosives and previous experience in special operations forces. He said he was not interested in the color or display of the fireworks, only their explosive impact and their ability to harm others. He even discussed the possibility of increasing their explosive impact by taping the fireworks together.
He wore a T-shirt with the word “Amalek” on the front, which he said he designed specifically to mean “destroyer of Jews.” In the Torah, Amalek refers to the descendants of Esau, known as the sworn enemy of the Israelites. His phone's home screen displayed an image of the Taliban flag, prosecutors said.
Among the evidence was a hat with the calligraphy of the Al Qaeda flag.
(U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico)
He refused to provide his identification and then became paranoid, asking if the store intended to track him and falsely saying he was not from the United States, authorities said. The employees, shocked by the encounter, wrote down his license plate and contacted the police.
Federal agents tracked Vandenberg to Tucson, Arizona, where he was arrested on June 13 while sleeping in his car at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. He told agents he was traveling for work and visiting friends in Phoenix, despite being unemployed, prosecutors said.
After a five-day jury trial and about three hours of deliberation, a jury convicted him of transportation of explosives with intent to kill, injure or intimidate and attempted transportation of prohibited fireworks into California. He remains detained awaiting sentencing.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison said in a statement that the verdict sends a message that attempts to use violence to express one's political beliefs will have federal consequences.
“People in this country are free to hold their own beliefs and 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.”
