SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco announced Thursday two California men who plotted to attack the Sacramento Democratic Headquarters were sentenced to a collective 13-and-a-half years in state prison.
Both 46-year-old Ian Benjamin Rogers of Napa and 39-year-old Jarrod Copeland of Vallejo admitted they conspired to commit the attack after the 2020 Presidential Election.
According to law enforcement, the two men planned through January 2021 to burn down the John L. Burton Democratic Headquarters by coating the building in gasoline.
Five pipe bombs were also found in Rogers' home by law enforcement officers.
"Rogers and Copeland also admitted discussing how they would wait until after the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021, before carrying out the attack," said law enforcement officials.
Just days before police seized Rogers' weapons, the 46-year-old reportedly texted to Copeland, “after the 20th we go to war.”
Rogers admitted in his plea agreement that he had constructed the pipe bombs and anticipated using them. The U.S. Attorney's Office said he admitted to possessing at least three fully automatic machine guns and considered using one of them in the attack on the building.
“Their decision to ‘go to war’ was based on their thought that they would rather destroy their political opponents’ building than acknowledge they lost an election and rely on the political process to make change,” said U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds. “Ian Rogers and Jarrod Copeland will now have plenty of time to reflect on the fact that resorting to violence is not an acceptable means of making political change in our democracy.”
