Colorful Trump supporter Ian Benjamin Rogers of Napa planned to ring in the Biden administration by blowing up the state Democratic Party headquarters in Sacramento. Instead, he’ll remain in prison for the remainder of Biden’s presidency, and possibly another 45 years to boot.
Back at the end of Trump’s presidency when all the insurrection-y things were happening, we had a good laugh at one Napa-based would-be domestic terrorist who was found to be carrying a “white privilege card.” But there was nothing funny about Ian Benjamin Rogers’s plan to blow up the California Democratic Party headquarters, and he certainly had the means; according to KQED, when he was arrested on January 15, 2021, “Officers found a cache of more than 50 weapons, including pipe bombs and illegally modified firearms.” Rogers reportedly also had plans to Molotov-cocktail Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, as well as Twitter and Facebook headquarters.
Rogers seemed remorseless enough this past September that U.S. District Court judge Charles Breyer threw out the plea deal that Rogers’s attorneys had negotiated with federal prosecutors. And that had to sting today, as KQED reports that Rogers was sentenced to nine years in prison over the bombing plots.
Rogers had an accomplice in the plan, Jarrod Copeland of Vallejo, who was himself sentenced to four-and a half years. The two worked together at Rogers’s automobile repair shop in downtown Napa.
Per KQED, “Both men were charged with conspiracy to destroy by fire or explosive a building used in interstate commerce.” But that outlet adds that “Copeland faced an additional charge of destruction of records in official proceedings for deleting Rogers’ text messages from his phone,”
Both are being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, which will presumably continue. But Rogers is looking at plenty more prison time than the nine years to which he was sentenced Wednesday. According to KQED, “The Napa County district attorney has charged Rogers with 28 felony counts, including conspiracy and possession of illegal weapons. If the case goes to trial, Rogers faces a statutory maximum of 45 [additional] years in prison.”
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