Man who set off makeshift bomb outside Alabama attorney general’s office sentenced to nine years

By The Associated Press

MONTOGMERY, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama man who detonated a homemade explosive device outside the state attorney general’s office was sentenced to nine years in federal prison on Thursday.

Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert, 27, plead guilty in August to the charge of malicious use of an explosive device. Calvert admitted to constructing the bomb out of nails, firecrackers and screws, and then blowing it up outside Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office in the early morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 24, prosecutors said. No people were hurt, and nearby buildings in downtown Montgomery were not damaged.

Remnants of the bomb were not discovered until the following Monday, according to a statement from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Law enforcement arrested Calvert two weeks later.

“Acts of violence like this one against our public institutions endanger public servants and entire communities, and they must not be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Calvert’s attorneys did not respond to an emailed request for comment on Thursday.

Prosecutors said that Calvert had placed stickers reflecting a wide range of political ideologies around the area, some of which included the phrase, “Support your local antifa.” But Calvert said he does not have any “affiliation with antifa” in his plea deal.