Texas man allegedly bought fireworks in New Mexico to shoot at police during Los Angeles protests

A Texas man who reportedly purchased fireworks from a southern New Mexico travel stop allegedly planned to fire them at law enforcement in the Los Angeles protests.

Grzegorz Vandenberg, 48, was charged with transporting explosives across state lines with the intent to kill, injure or intimidate a person in U.S. District Court of New Mexico on June 13. Vandenberg has not yet been assigned legal counsel.

After raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Hispanic-dominant communities in Los Angeles, a weeklong protest erupted in the city on June 6 and spread across the nation. Many demonstrators marched peacefully, hoisting signs, chanting in Spanish and performing Mexican folk dances. Some threw objects at police, looted businesses and set cars on fire, according to The Associated Press.

Authorities say that Vandenberg planned to stoke unrest by shooting off fireworks at police officers.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on June 12, Vandenberg asked a cashier at a travel center in Lordsburg which of their fireworks were the most powerful and could be thrown at a person, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court of New Mexico. Vandenberg then told the cashier that he was a former special forces officer in the military and knew how to make pipe bombs, according to witness interviews.

The cashier told authorities that Vandenberg invited them to join him and his platoon in Los Angeles, where he planned to use fireworks to kill police officers at protests there. Vanderberg purchased six mortars, each holding 60 grams of gunpowder, and 36 large fireworks, the complaint details.

The cashier followed Vandenberg to the parking lot, where he got into a silver Ford Bronco and drove west on Interstate 10, according to the complaint. The cashier wrote down his license plate number and passed along information to authorities, the complaint details.

Vandenberg was arrested in Tucson, Arizona, the next day.

“Targeting law enforcement with violence is not protest — it’s a crime,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico said in a statement Wednesday. “Anyone who attempts to harm officers or undermine public safety will be held accountable. Protecting the safety of our communities and upholding the integrity of lawful demonstrations are priorities, and those who cross the line into violence will be prosecuted swiftly and to the fullest extent of the law.”