By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First
The man charged with setting fire to a historic building that includes the Vermont offices of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, was carrying an AK-47 rifle and a book entitled “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” when stopped by Illinois police last August, newly released court records show.
According to Wikipedia, How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Learning to Fight in a World on Fire is a nonfiction book written by Andreas Malm and published in 2021 by Verso Books. In the book, Malm argues that sabotage is a logical form of climate activism, and criticizes both pacifism within the climate movement and “climate fatalism” outside it. The book inspired a film of the same name.
Shant M. Soghomonian, 35, formerly of Northridge, Calif. appeared for his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Burlington Tuesday afternoon for the arson charge.
Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle agreed to a government request that a detention motion be heard on Thursday afternoon. Doyle said the Pre-Trial Services Office had not had time to complete a report on Soghomonian.
After the court hearing, Soghomonian was returned to the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town where he has been held since shortly after his arrest on Sunday.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has filed a criminal complaint against Soghomonian for causing damage to 1 Church Street, which is also the home to the law firm of Paul Frank & Collins and a Chase Bank branch.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher, in his detention motion, noted the Illinois State Police had stopped Soghomonian for a traffic violation in August 2023. Investigation showed besides the book and the AK-47 rifle, Soghomonian had two magazines to go with the weapon and about 12 grams of cannabis, Lasher wrote.
Soghomonian also told police he did not have a weapon in his vehicle, but that proved to be untruthful, Lasher noted. It is not the only time Soghomonian has tried to deceive police, Lasher reported.
He said the defendant has a history of itinerancy, gun possession and a lack of candor with law enforcement.
The veteran prosecutor also noted Soghomonian as “a juvenile in his mid-teens, he was arrested or detained for an assault involving a firearm on a person in Glendale, California.”
The case appears to have been dismissed in part in the “furtherance of justice” on some counts and also resulted in the imposition of a wardship on others, Lasher wrote in his motion.
The ATF obtained search warrants for the room at the Quality Inn in Shelburne, where Soghomonian was arrested as he prepared to leave on Sunday. The federal agents also obtained a warrant for the 2019 blue Subaru Impreza that was parked in front of the motel, just south of the South Burlington line. It was registered in New York.
The ATF seized a tote bag consistent with a bag shown in a security video outside the targeted building, Lasher said. The bag had a handheld long-neck lighter, matches and fire starter materials.
Sanders was not at the office, but staff members were there working.
Soghomonian had stayed at the Shelburne inn for only one night and was due to leave after sunrise, but he was arrested by the ATF with help from Williston and Shelburne Police about 5 a.m.
Soghomonian failed to immediately answer his door at the Quality Inn when police announced their presence, but said he was getting dressed, the ATF said.
Investigators heard what sounded like the dragging of heavy items near the door, but the man continued to refuse to open the door, ATF Special Agent Eric Brimo said.
Fearing a barricade, a pass key was used to unlock the door, but it was blocked, forcing officers to push their way in, Brimo reported.
Soghomonian was found inside, and he was wearing what appeared to be the same white Nike shoes that had been seen on security video during the arson on Friday morning, the ATF said.
The investigation has shown Soghomonian had lived for much of February and March at the former La Quinta Inn on Williston Road next to Al’s French Frys. The motel is now known as the Inn at Burlington.
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Categories: Crime
For the editors:
In the email you sent announcing this set of articles a few minutes ago, you wrote found automatic weapons. Nowhere in this article is it mentioned that that was an automatic rifle and they make AK-47s contrary to popular belief and in the movies both semi-automatic and fully automatic AK-47s.
Ak-47s that are fully automatic require a NFA tax stamp and are the cost of a luxury car making it generally cost prohibitive for individuals to own them to begin with, and illegally owning those come with many years in prison.
Splitting hairs, aren’t you? Are you saying that it’s okay for this wacko to have had an AK-47 if it was only semi-automatic? Not sure what you point is.
briancostellovt, “Not sure what you point is.” Of course I can not speak with certainty for “Brian”, but I’d bet his intent was full, and accurate disclosure as the left intentionally lumps full and semi-auto firearms into the same deceptive ball. As far as your probing statement, “it’s okay for this wacko to have had an AK-47 if it was only semi-automatic?” Until the proper authority, a judge, jury, or a psychiatrist says he can’t, legally, he can. If he has been adjudicated as unfit to have a firearm, for what ever reason, and there are a slew of them, then that is something else entirely.
Patrick was spot on, my intent is to explain that there is a significant difference between a full auto and a semi auto firearm and that the anti-gunners always conflate the two in an attempt to make them scarier than they are. I would prefer that VDC does not and prefer to educate them in an attempt to help them not make that mistake again.
I also agree with Patrick’s point about until he is deemed unfit by a judge and jurors so much so that the only reason that I clicked on this article at all was because it said he had an automatic firearm which is the only reason I read the article as I would love to know how a young man could have afforded such a tool and lead to much more suspicion that he was “put up to the task” by someone who could.
In fact in my opinion the whole article should be changed to “Arsonist has a history of firearms misuse and appears to be involved with violent climate change activism” in which it is explained that when he was young he held somone at gunpoint and has was pulled over with marijuana and a book on using explosives to blow up pipelines while having a firearm of which he tried to hide from police officers.
It’s still not the big scary Gun Mr Costello… It’s the idiot with the weed, book and misguided ideals.
Automatic weapon is technically correct, but often times the media use it to try make their readers ignorant of firearms to believe it’s an NFA item with “full-auto” (even if it was who cares). A semi-automatic firearm is an automatic firearm, it’s just not a fully automatic firearm, but it could be a fully semi-automatic firearm I guess. 😀
On the same note, I’d rather some idiot gangster try to shoot me with a glock switch installed if given the option lol.
Guess Elon Musk was right. Again.
Remember in November. Biden & Co. have done all of this to us.
Other than the AK, this guy’s got potential to be on Bernie’s staff, maybe he was just kinda, sorta showing off his portfolio as his way of applying for a job.
My thoughts exactly. Maybe he’s not happy with the pace that Bernie is moving the US and Vermont toward socialism.
Prepare for prosecution to the fullest extent. Political elites get a totally different system of justice and punishment for crimes against them – even if a left-wing whacko is the perpetrator.
Thank you Michael and Guy for printing this article exposing the truth. People need to see the reality of Bernie’s/ obama’s agenda which is to destroy America and to rebuild it as a socialist/communist globalist style community with the gov. having total control of everyone’s lives from cradle to grave. They will dictate what you will do in life, where you will live, where you can vacation, probably how many kids you can have and you will be forced to accept it like in Russia. I don’t want this ever and I hope you don’t either. We need to fight back every day.
Where’s that Chris guy? Like I said. This Bernie arsonist guy will turn out to be a leftist, because despite the (actively leftist itself) FBI’s false allegations, leftists are and always have been far more prone to terrorism than those the “right,” which used to just be normal people in the middle until the left went full bore race & gender communist and skewed the charts.
I’m right here dumbass. No he won’t, but then of course, nothing matters to you MAGA except keeping score. Do you think I’d be happy if a politician on the right was harmed? No I wouldn’t because I’m an American first. You should try it.
@Chris
“Even though Orange Jesus said he was kidding, looks like someone took bloodbath to heart. More right-wing terrorism. It’s okay though because something, something Bernie has three houses, he’s a Marxist!”
Was this you? Keeping score? 😂 By the way, I never said anything about being happy that any politician one way or the other was harmed. That would be you, above, where you imagine and project your own political hate onto the rest of us. As has been said before, you’re really not very good at this.
Gee wasn’t the guy who shot up the Congressional Baseball Game a few years ago and almost killed Steve Scalise a Bernie supporter that used a semi-automatic SKS style rifle. Now we got a guy with the same Bernie ideology who was probably mad at Bernie for some unknown reason in his warped mind tried to burn his office. Funny that all the gun grabbers won’t admit that the people doing all the mass shootings are highly medicated mental defectives that the Commicrats themselves have created and prescribe to their ideology.
WIELDERS OF THE GUN
1. Uvalde TX – AR-15 –Mentally Defective – Guns legally purchased.
2. Buffalo NY – AR-15 -Gun legally purchased but shooter had illegal 30 rd magazine.
3. Boulder CO – AR-15 – Mentally Defective – Gun legally purchased but shooter had 10 illegal 30 rd magazines.
4. Orlando FL – AR-15 – Islamist on FBI radar. Purchased guns legally.
5. Parkland FL – AR-15 – Mentally Defective. Purchased guns legally.
6. Nashville TN – AR-15 – Transgender – Purchased guns legally.
7. Las Vegas NV – AR-15 –All guns purchased legally.
8. Sandy Hook CT – AR-15 – Mentally Defective. – Purchased guns legally.
9. San Bernardino CA – AR-15 – Islamist – Guns illegally transferred and modified.
10. Midland/Odessa TX – AR-15 – Guns illegally purchased.
11. Colorado Springs CO– AR-15 – Non-binary – Prohibited from owning firearms.
12. Poway Synagogue CA – AR-15 – Gun legally purchased but shooter had 10 illegal 30 rd magazines.
13. Tree of Life Synagogue PA – AR-15 – Anti Semite – Purchased all guns legally.
14. Lewiston ME – AR-15 – Mentally Defective. Purchased guns legally.
15. Lakewood TX – AR-15 – Transgender Illegal Alien. Gun acquired illegally.
16. Washington DC – SKS – Socialist – Acquired guns legally.
17. Denver CO – AR-15 – Transgender – Acquired guns legally.
18. Philadelphia PA – AR15- Transgender – Acquired guns legally.
Notice that out of the eighteen instances only two of the shooters acquired their guns illegally one was already prohibited from possessing a firearm but still got one. No gun control law or Red Flag law stopped them.
Robert A. Heinlein: “There are no dangerous weapons. There are only dangerous men”.
And as a side note notice that some of the shooters still acquired 30 round magazines that were banned by their state. They still got them. Gun control laws don’t affect criminals it only affects people that obey the law.
So, climate change caused this guy to commit arson? The book is interesting – was that plagiarized from a three letter agency manual or ghost written on behalf of? The guy certainly fits the pedigree of an astute student of Langley as outlined by James in his comment. Is there an episode of the Simpsons that depicts this particular predictive incident?
Who is funding this guy?