California man pleads guilty to bombing state courthouse

Nathaniel McGuire, 22, pleaded guilty Monday in Riverside federal court to using a weapon of mass destruction and maliciously destroying a building with an explosive, admitting he detonated a bomb inside the Santa Maria courthouse in 2024 to retaliate against sheriff's deputies who had seized his firearms. Five people were hospitalized and released the same day after the device slid between a victim's legs and exploded near a courtroom.

McGuire had been due for arraignment on a firearms charge when he threw a backpack bomb past courthouse security. He fled toward a parked Mustang containing ammunition, a flare gun, fireworks, a shotgun, a rifle, ten Molotov cocktails and a suspected bomb, and told investigators he had planned to return with firearms to kill a judge.

Prosecutors have agreed to cap their sentencing request at 30 years, though the maximum is life and the judge retains final say. A search of McGuire's home turned up a nail-studded can, black powder, fireworks and what appeared to be explosive recipes.

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