A Santa Barbara County, California, man pleaded guilty today 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 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. 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, 2024, McGuire knowingly detonated a bomb in the Santa Maria courthouse, which serves the Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
McGuire walked in the door of the courthouse and threw a backpack containing an explosive device past the courthouse’s security screening device and towards Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies, The bomb slid between a victim’s legs and detonated in the building outside a courtroom. Five people were hospitalized and released the same day. The bomb resulted in personal injuries to three victims.
McGuire admitted in his plea agreement that he detonated the bomb with the intent to kill the sheriff’s deputies.
After the bomb exploded, McGuire left to retrieve two long guns and 10 Molotov cocktails from his vehicle and intended to re-enter the courthouse to kill sheriff’s deputies and “splatter” (kill) a judge. A courthouse security guard and several law enforcement officers stopped McGuire at his vehicle.
McGuire admitted to maliciously damaging the courthouse, which sustained approximately $35,000 in damages and had to be closed for several days.
He also admitted to detonating the bomb at the courthouse in retaliation for various alleged government wrongs, including Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies seizing his firearms earlier that year.
McGuire intended to harm the judge and the sheriff’s deputies on account of their status as government employees and officials.
A search of McGuire’s residence resulted in the seizure of other materials related to his bomb making.
McGuire is scheduled to be sentenced on March 1, 2027, and will face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, and Santa Maria Police Department are investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark P. Takla and Kathrynne N. Seiden for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case with substantial assistance from Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Su for the Central District of California and Trial Attorney Patrick Cashman of the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.