SAN FRANCISCO — A California man who pleaded responsible to plotting to firebomb the state Democratic Social gathering’s headquarters and different buildings in Northern California should bear a psychiatric examination, a decide mentioned.
The courtroom needs extra details about the psychological state of Ian Benjamin Rogers earlier than he's sentenced, Senior U.S. District Choose Charles E. Breyer wrote in an order filed in San Francisco on Friday.
Prosecutors mentioned Rogers and one other man conspired to assault targets they related to Democrats after former President Donald Trump’s defeat within the November 2020 presidential election, together with the California governor’s mansion and buildings for social media corporations Fb and Twitter.
Breyer on Friday ordered sentencing paperwork turned over to a psychiatrist to “assess the defendant’s psychological situation, advocate an applicable course of therapy, if any, and assess the defendant’s dangerousness,” in keeping with the order cited Monday by the Sacramento Bee.
A report is due inside 60 days. Rogers’ Oct. 27 sentencing date was postponed.
Rogers, of Napa, pleaded responsible in Could to conspiring to destroy the constructing in Sacramento by hearth or explosives, possessing an explosive gadget and possessing a machine gun as a part of an settlement that might carry him seven to 9 years in federal jail.
However three weeks in the past, Breyer rejected the proposed plea settlement, saying he was involved that Rogers hadn’t proven any regret for his actions and had informed probation officers for a pre-sentencing report that he solely felt dangerous for placing himself in a state of affairs ”that allowed the federal government to destroy my life.”
The decide mentioned: “I've to say in … 23 years I’ve by no means seen that kind of assertion. I’ve by no means seen a defendant are available in and easily say I remorse I used to be caught.”
A co-defendant, Jarrod Copeland, beforehand pleaded responsible to conspiracy and destruction of information. He additionally was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 27.