A man from Santa Barbara County confessed to detonating a bomb at a courthouse in 2024 as revenge for the seizure of his firearms by law enforcement earlier that year. Nathaniel James McGuire, 22, pleaded guilty to using a weapon of mass destruction and malicious destruction of a building with an explosive, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.
McGuire’s plea agreement revealed that the bombing in Santa Maria, which injured three people and caused structural damage, was aimed at killing sheriff’s deputies. He faces a potential life sentence at his March 1 hearing. His attorney has not commented.
“This defendant’s brazen act of terror resulted in physical, structural, and emotional harm, and could have had tragic consequences,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “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 to throwing a backpack with an explosive device past security at the courthouse on September 24, 2024. The backpack slid between a victim’s legs, detonating outside a courtroom. Prosecutors stated that McGuire shouted, “Liberty or death” as he threw the bag.
McGuire was at the courthouse facing a firearm charge from a previous arrest on July 28, when deputies found him with an unregistered, loaded revolver. After the explosion, he retrieved two long guns and ten Molotov cocktails from his vehicle, intending to return to the courthouse to attack deputies and a judge. Authorities stopped him as he tried to access his vehicle, a red Ford Mustang.
A witness reported that the blast filled the courthouse with smoke and a man detained appeared to have ammunition falling from his pockets. Shane Mellon, representing a company scheduled to appear in court, said, “I could hear the guy that apparently threw the bomb screaming at the top of his lungs and yelling. This could have been much worse.”
The courthouse sustained approximately $35,000 in damages and was closed for several days. McGuire admitted the bomb was in retaliation for alleged government wrongs, including the seizure of his firearms earlier that year. At McGuire’s home, law enforcement discovered bomb-making materials.
“McGuire launched a vicious, terroristic assault on a court of law with the intent to kill law enforcement officers and a judge,” stated Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg. “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 additional information.