Shant Michael Soghomonian, 35, has been accused of starting a fire outside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ office in Vermont on Friday.. and this isn’t his first brush with the law.
Prosecutors argue that Soghomonian should remain detained due to his past brushes with the law involving guns and his history of traveling from place to place.
Security video footage shows Soghomonian throwing liquid at the bottom of a door opening into Sanders’ third-floor office and setting it on fire with a lighter, according to an affidavit filed by a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Although seven employees were present in the office at the time, they were able to evacuate unharmed. The building suffered some interior damage from the fire and water sprinklers.
Soghomonian hails from California’s Northridge community, but he was staying at a South Burlington hotel for nearly two months before being spotted outside Sanders’ office the day before and the day of the fire, according to the special agent’s report. He is currently facing a charge of maliciously damaging a building used in interstate commerce by means of fire.
Prosecutors argue that Soghomonian is a danger to the community and a flight risk, citing the substantial risk he posed to the structure and the lives of the building’s occupants, as well as his attempt to flee the area to avoid detection and apprehension.
In August, Illinois State Police seized an AK-47 rifle, two magazines, cannabis, and the book “How to Blow up a Pipeline” from Soghomonian’s vehicle during a traffic stop.
During the stop, Soghomonian produced an invalid Oregon driver’s license and told police he was traveling to the West Coast, with his vehicle having been in several states in August alone.
Soghomonian also has a history of firearms possession dating back to his mid-teens, when he was detained for an assault with a firearm in Glendale, California, in 2005, though the case appears to have been later dismissed. Prosecutors argue that his history of itinerancy, firearms possession, and lack of candor with law enforcement exacerbate his risk of flight.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.