Burley Garcia-Florida attorney pleads guilty to trying to detonate explosives near Chinese embassy in Washington

2025-04-30 02:49:21source:Mooathon Wealth Societycategory:Contact

A Florida attorney pleaded guilty on Burley GarciaFriday to using a rifle to try to detonate explosives outside the Chinese embassy last year in Washington, D.C.

Christopher Rodriguez also bombed a sculpture of communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong in a courtyard outside the Texas Public Radio building in San Antonio, Texas, in 2022, according to a court filing accompanying his guilty plea.

Rodriguez, 45, of Panama City, Florida, is scheduled to be sentenced in Washington by Chief Judge James Boasberg on Oct. 28.

Under the terms of his plea deal, Rodriguez and prosecutors agreed that seven to 10 years in prison would be an appropriate sentence.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty to three counts: damaging property occupied by a foreign government, damaging federal property with explosive materials and possessing an unregistered firearm.

Rodriguez acknowledged that he drove from Florida to Washington and took a taxi to an area near the Chinese embassy in the early-morning hours of Sept. 25, 2023.

Rodriguez placed a black backpack containing about 15 pounds of explosive materials roughly 12 feet from a wall and fence around the embassy grounds. He admitted that he tried to detonate the explosives by shooting at the backpack with a rifle, but he missed his target.

RELATED COVERAGE Florida WR Eugene Wilson III plans to use All-SEC snub as motivation during sophomore seasonFlorida flooding emergency declared as tropical threat draws nearTeen brother of Air Force airman who was killed by Florida deputy is fatally shot near Atlanta

A U.S. Secret Service officer found the unattended backpack after Rodriguez left the area.

In November 2022, Rodriguez drove to San Antonio in a rental car and scaled an eight-foot fence to enter the courtyard containing the sculpture of Lenin and Mao. He placed two canisters of explosive material on the base of the sculpture, climbed onto a roof overlooking the courtyard and shot the canisters with a rifle, triggering an explosion that damaged the sculpture.

Rodriguez, a U.S. Army veteran who was born in Puerto Rico, was arrested in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Nov. 4, 2023. Investigators tied him to the attempted attack on the embassy using DNA from the backpack.

More:Contact

Recommend

Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there

AI-assisted summarySeveral countries are offering financial incentives to attract residents, particu

Review: 'True Detective: Night Country' is so good, it might be better than Season 1

Ten years is long enough to prove that time is, in fact, a flat circle.When it burst onto HBO in 201

What is a spot bitcoin ETF, and how will its approval by the SEC impact investors?

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday granted approval to spot bitcoin exchange-traded