The man arrested Sunday outside of a Catholic church where U.S. Supreme Court justices were scheduled to attend Mass had more than 200 explosive devices in his possession at the time of his arrest.
Louis Geri, 41, of Vineland, New Jersey, was arrested after he threatened to ignite explosives outside of St. Matthew’s Cathedral, where hours after his arrest, the justices were scheduled to attend an annual Red Mass held as the court returns for a new term, according to The Washington Post.
Due to the incident, the justices did not attend, according to the Catholic Standard.
Court records show that Geri was told by police that he had to move a tent erected on the steps of the cathedral, but he resisted, telling the officers, “You might want to stay back and call the federales, I have explosives,” the Washington Post reported.
Thank you to law enforcement for preventing what would have been a HORRIFIC terrorist attack.
The epidemic of political violence and assassination attempts from the LEFT must STOP. https://t.co/J6CAHjvOc1
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) October 8, 2025
Court documents said that as police urged him to move, Geri refused.
“Do you want me to throw one out? I’ll test one out on the streets. I have a hundred-plus of them,” he said, according to court records.
“If you just step back, I’ll take out that tree. No one will get hurt, there will just be a hole where that tree used to be.”
Should Supreme Court justices get additional security?
After being told he would be moved by police if he did not do so of his own accord, Geri told police “several of your people are gonna die from one of these,” according to court records.
A Metropolitan Police Department sergeant agreed to read a document Geri gave her, but during their interaction, Geri grew angry and said, “All right, if you want to do it, we’ll do it now.”
⚠️ BREAKING: Authorities arrested Louis Geri outside Washington, D.C.’s Cathedral of St. Matthew during the “Red Mass” — a ceremony historically attended by Supreme Court justices.
After uncovering 200+ explosive devices and a manifesto calling for attacks on SCOTUS, Catholics,… pic.twitter.com/h7lr3Q3qQ1
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) October 8, 2025
The sergeant sought to maintain dialogue with Geri, who, as he spoke, produced vials of yellow liquid with explosives taped to them. He moved into position to light the objects, saying, “You better have these people step away or there’s going to be deaths, I’m telling you now.”
Police backed off, but later arrested Geri when he walked over into some trees nearby to urinate.
Geri said he had an explosive device on him, which was taken by a member of the D.C. police bomb squad.
Some vials that were confiscated by police contained nitromethane, an explosive compound often used in improvised explosive devices.
According to court documents, the explosives were “fully functional.”
BREAKING: Suspect Louis Geri allegedly had 200 explosive devices in a green tent outside St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, DC, on Sunday, where Supreme Court Justices were scheduled to attend the annual Red Mass. pic.twitter.com/Gug6AKVNGM
— MAGA Kitty (@SaveUSAKitty) October 8, 2025
During his dialogue with police, Geri gave them a document titled “Written Negotiations for the Avoidance of Destruction of Property via Detonation of Explosives,” according to WUSA-TV.
The document showed Geri’s dislike for the Catholic church, Jews, members of SCOTUS, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Geri faces charges of unlawful entry, manufacture, transfer, use, possession, or transportation of Molotov cocktails or other explosives for unlawful purposes, threats to kidnap or injure a person, two counts of assault on a police officer, possession of a destructive device, manufacture or possession of a weapon of mass destruction (hate crime), and resisting arrest.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
