Police have arrested a man who set up camp on the steps of a cathedral in Washington D.C. after explosive materials were found inside his tent.
Louis Geri of Vineland, New Jersey, was taken into custody Sunday morning by the Metropolitan Police Department assigned to a detail for the Red Mass at Saint Matthew’s Cathedral. The service is held annually for members of the legal profession, and has been attended in the past by Supreme Court justices.
He was later charged with possession of a molotov cocktail, among other things.
The force said that an individual had set up camp on the steps of the building and refused to leave. MPD said that officers had discovered that Geri had been previously barred from the cathedral.
He was taken into custody without incident.
Following a search of Geri’s tent, officers found “multiple suspicious items” including vials of liquid and possible fireworks.
“Members of MPD’s Explosive Ordinance Disposal team and the Arson Task Force responded to the scene to search the suspect’s belongings,” the MPD said in a statement.
“The scene has been secured and there is no threat to public safety,” the press release stated.
Geri has been preliminarily charged with unlawful entry, threats to kidnap or injure a person and possession of a molotov cocktail.
The investigation is ongoing in coordination with members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The Red Mass is held each year to “invoke God’s blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice,” according to St. Matthew’s Cathedral. No justices were in attendance Sunday morning, a spokesperson for the Supreme Court told CNN.
