SAN ANTONIO – A Florida man was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for bombing a sculpture in San Antonio, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Christopher Rodriguez, 45, pleaded guilty in Aug. 2024 to several charges, including damaging property occupied by a federal government and explosive materials, a news release says.
Rodriguez, a licensed Florida attorney and a U.S. Army veteran, bombed a sculpture of communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong in a courtyard outside the Texas Public Radio building in 2022.
He placed two canisters of explosive materials at the base of the steel sculpture and used a rifle to set off the explosives, records show.
Rodriguez caused $325,000 worth of damages to the sculpture, the release stated.
A year later, Rodriguez used a rifle to try to detonate explosives outside the Chinese embassy in 2023 in Washington, D.C.
According to court documents, Rodriguez placed a backpack filled with explosives next to a streetlight near the Chinese embassy on Sept. 23-24, 2023.
He tried to shoot at the backpack from a distance and missed three times, failing to set off the explosives. Law enforcement later recovered the backpack.
Rodriguez was previously arrested in June 2021 in California, where he possessed three firearms and explosive material that was similar to the explosives used during the Chinese embassy attack, the release stated.
Rodriguez was arrested on Nov. 4, 2023, in Louisiana, where he has been held since, according to the release.
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