(CN) — An Alabama man was indicted by a federal grand jury and arrested Wednesday on charges related to the detonation of an improvised explosive device outside the Alabama Attorney General’s office Monday, Feb. 26.
No one was injured in the explosion, which was reported initially around 3:49 a.m. by a security guard who was working nearby.
In fact, responding officers determined the call was unfounded after finding no corroborating evidence. But as dawn broke several hours later, employees arriving for work “discovered the remnants” of an apparent explosion along with suspicious, anti-government stickers that had been affixed to buildings and signage around downtown Montgomery.
State and federal authorities launched an investigation, and by Feb. 28, the agencies had released grainy photos and a 10-second video of a suspect, who appeared to be a tall, slender white male with a distinct gait.
According to an affidavit released Wednesday, investigators subsequently reviewed surveillance video of the suspect’s movements, which led them to a late-model Toyota Camry adorned with several unique bumper stickers.
Authorities were able to find additional images of the vehicle in a statewide database from license plate readers and determined it was registered to Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert, 26, of Irondale, Alabama. He was arrested Wednesday and charged with two felony counts of malicious damage by explosive and possession of an unregistered destructive device.
“My staff and I are breathing a collective sigh of relief this morning knowing that this individual has been taken off the streets,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement. “Although more information will be provided in the weeks to come, I think it is safe to say that this was not a random act of violence.”
The affidavit accompanying Calvert’s arrest warrant indicates the suspect used social media accounts to express anti-government sentiments and “violent impulses.” Interviews with Calvert’s former employers corroborated his vehicle, attitude and unusual gait, characterized by toes that point inward.
A search warrant for Calvert’s phone records revealed he turned off location data during the time the crime was committed. He posted images to social media showing the same unusual shoes and goggles the suspect wore at the crime scene.
The device itself was described as a “coffee container-like vessel” containing a material soaked in a propellant and packed with “a mortar, firecrackers and nails.” A photograph depicted dozens of nails, screws and other hardware used as shrapnel, which “demonstrates weaponization characteristics due to the enhanced fragmentation effect those materials would create.”
The placement of the device outside the AG’s office “demonstrates that this device was used as a weapon against property and/or to cause injury or death,” according to the affidavit.
Court records indicate Calvert has yet to retain an attorney. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment and a fine for malicious damage by explosive and 10 years of imprisonment and up to a $10,000 fine for the possession of an unregistered destructive device.
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