By SDCN Staff
A Santa Barbara County man pleaded guilty Monday to detonating a bomb at a Santa Maria courthouse in 2024 in an attack that injured three people, damaged the building, and was intended to kill law enforcement officers in retaliation for local law enforcement seizing his firearms earlier that year.
“McGuire launched a vicious, terroristic assault on a court of law with the intent to kill law enforcement officers and a judge,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John 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. McGuire will now face the consequences of his actions.”
“This defendant’s brazen act of terror resulted in physical, structural, and emotional harm, and could have had tragic consequences,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “Individuals who use bombs against law enforcement officials, judges, and other government personnel must be held accountable and face severe punishment for their actions.”
Nathaniel James McGuire, 22, of Santa Maria, pleaded guilty to one count of use of a weapon of mass destruction and one count of malicious destruction of a building using an explosive.
McGuire has been in federal custody since September 2024.
According to his plea agreement, on Sept. 24, McGuire knowingly detonated a bomb in the Santa Maria courthouse, which serves the Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
