(LibertyInsider.org) – An Alabama man is facing charges after setting off a homemade explosive with “IED characteristics” outside of Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office. Court records indicate the device exploded at 501 Washington Avenue in Montgomery sometime during the early morning hours of Saturday, February 24.
According to a statement from Marshall’s office, the detonation caused no direct damage to the property or anyone in the vicinity. In fact, the AG’s staffers, who do not work on weekends, only became aware of the explosion when they returned to work at the start of the next week.
When they returned on Monday, AG employees spotted suspicious debris scattered around the building. They immediately reported the matter to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, which launched a joint investigation with the FBI.
An Alabama man was arrested and indicted this week on charges that he detonated an explosive device outside the Alabama attorney general's office in late February, the Justice Department announces. https://t.co/Q120PTfW05
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 10, 2024
Surveillance footage played a key role in cracking this case. It showed an unknown individual dressed in dark clothing lurking in the area at around 2:50 a.m. that day. Over the next 40 minutes, he or she attached “Support your local Antifa” stickers to the Alabama Statehouse and then headed toward Marshall’s office.
CCTV also captured the explosion itself, which occurred at 3:42 a.m. The same footage showed the suspect fleeing the area exactly one minute later.
A security officer working at the nearby Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) immediately reported the explosion to the police. However, the attending officer almost immediately ruled the call unfounded as they could not find evidence of a detonation.
CCTV cameras situated throughout downtown Montgomery allowed police to track the then-unidentified suspect’s movements from the AG’s office all the way to a silver Toyota Camry with stickers on its exterior. This identifying information eventually led them to Kyle Calvert, who was arrested and charged with malicious use of an explosive on April 10.
An FBI laboratory report later identified the bomb as a homemade Improvised Explosive Device (IED). Encased in an unassuming coffee can-like housing, it contained shrapnel designed to maximize its destructive power, including nails and screws.
Calvert is also facing charges of illegal possession of an unregistered firearm, according to court records. It isn’t clear if that charge is related to the events on February 24.
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