A man from New Jersey was taken into custody after reportedly carrying a Molotov cocktail outside a Catholic church in Washington, DC, which was holding a special mass to mark the beginning of the Supreme Court term, law enforcement officials said.
Louis Geri, a 41-year-old from Vineland, New Jersey, was arrested on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle shortly before 6 a.m. on Sunday after he set up a tent containing “suspicious” items and did not comply with orders to leave, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Authorities discovered that Geri had previously been prohibited from entering the Cathedral grounds, although the reasons for this ban were not disclosed.
Upon discovering “multiple suspicious items” inside his tent, including vials of liquid and potential firework materials, the Metropolitan Police Department’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit and the Arson Task Force were called to examine his belongings.
Geri faces charges of Unlawful Entry, Making Threats to Kidnap or Injure, and Possession of a Molotov Cocktail, as reported by law enforcement officials.
The Cathedral was hosting its Red Mass that day, an annual event held on the Sunday before the first Monday in October to commemorate the beginning of the Supreme Court’s term.
The Catholic community described Red Mass as a way to seek blessings for those involved in the justice system and all public servants.
Law enforcement secured the area, and the cathedral’s main entrance was closed off while the scene was being investigated.
The motive behind Geri’s actions remains unclear.
The incident is now under the scrutiny of the Joint Terrorism Task Force alongside the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
This event follows close on the heels of a recent attack where a shooter crashed a vehicle into a church in Michigan, firing upon parishioners and ultimately setting the building ablaze, resulting in four fatalities.
