A man carrying hundreds of makeshift explosive devices was arrested outside a major religious event attended by D.C. law enforcement and linked to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Police arrested 41-year-old Louis Geri outside the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on Sunday during the annual Red Mass, uncovering a cache of over 200 homemade explosives and a manifesto targeting religious and government institutions, Breitbart News reported.
This year’s Red Mass was notably absent of Supreme Court justices, a shift attributed to growing security concerns, as chaos came knocking before the service even began.
Bomb Threat Outside a Sacred Venue
As officers secured the church steps ahead of the event, they discovered Geri inside a green tent. When approached, Geri allegedly warned them, "You might want to stay back and call the federales, I have explosives." Naturally, this led D.C. police to call in the bomb squad.
Geri then reportedly handed over nine documents forming a manifesto brazenly titled, “Written Negotiations for the Avoidance of Destruction of Property via Detonation of Explosives.” Police say the writings revealed a simmering hatred toward the Catholic Church, Jewish individuals, Supreme Court justices, and ICE facilities.
Despite the calm setting of prayer and tradition, Geri allegedly ramped up the tension, threatening to throw a bomb into the street and saying he had “a hundred plus” explosives on hand. The reckless bravado was met with a swift police response.
Explosive Cache Sparks Federal Charges
As officers tried to de-escalate, Geri reportedly added, “Several of your people are gonna die from one of these.” At one point, he allegedly held a butane lighter in his hand and warned authorities to back away or there would be “deaths.”
While attempting to relieve himself on a tree—not exactly the mark of a master revolutionary—Geri was taken into custody. He then claimed to have a device in his pocket, which a bomb squad technician confirmed included a vial of yellow liquid with a taped M-device.
A full search of his tent uncovered over 200 devices emitting strong chemical odors. Bomb technicians later determined the vials contained Nitro Methane mixed with other unidentified substances kept in non-original containers. According to official documents, the devices appeared “fully functional.”
Targeted Anger Toward Faith, Government, and Law
In a jailhouse interview, Geri reportedly admitted to engineering homemade grenades and modifying bottle rockets to detonate them using Thermite—a chilling level of DIY for someone allegedly driven by political and religious animus.
The motivations detailed in his writings were anything but benign. Police said Geri’s manifesto showed “significant animosity” toward multiple institutions and individuals, a telling echo of recent politically charged violence masked as activism.
His arrest occurred just 48 hours after a federal judge handed down what many viewed as a lenient sentence to a would-be assassin of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The eight-year term stood in stark contrast to the far stiffer guidelines recommended—a subtext not lost on court-watchers and those concerned about uneven justice.
Previous Offenses, Present Threat
Geri, originally from Vineland, New Jersey, had been living in Mesa, Arizona, in recent years. He already had a criminal record in that state, including a 2021 conviction for indecent exposure. He served prison time from 2022 to mid-2023.
Following his arrest, Geri was hit with a laundry list of charges, including possession of weapons of mass destruction, unlawful entry, assault on police officers, and hate crimes. Prosecutors are not taking any chances—he’s being held without bond.
While the annual Red Mass has long been a solemn gathering that welcomes Supreme Court justices to pray for wisdom and justice, its symbolic power has drawn protests and now apparent hostility. In fact, Geri’s arrest is just the latest example of political unrest spilling uncomfortably close to the sanctified institutions Americans still revere.
