A dramatic courtroom decision unfurled as a former U.S. Navy SEAL faced conviction for a thwarted scheme targeting law enforcement with explosives. This plot was intended to unfold during a “No Kings” rally in California but was dismantled thanks to a vigilant store clerk whose alertness alerted federal agents and changed the course of events.
Gregory Vandenberg, aged 49, saw the verdict handed down after a five-day legal examination. He was found guilty by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico on charges that included the transportation of explosives with lethal intent and the attempted importation of outlawed fireworks into California.
In a swift deliberation lasting approximately three hours, the jury delivered their unanimous verdict of guilt.
According to prosecutors, Vandenberg embarked on a journey from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego in advance of the June 14, 2025 protests. During his travels, he stopped at a roadside travel center near Lordsburg, New Mexico, where he acquired six mortar-style fireworks along with 72 M-150 explosive firecrackers.
Security footage captured Gregory Vandenberg in conversation with a store employee during his purchase of fireworks in New Mexico. Authorities reported that employees opted to contact law enforcement after Vandenberg mentioned plans to attack officers during the No Kings demonstrations in California. (Source: United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico)
While making the purchase, Vandenberg told a store clerk he intended to throw the explosives at law enforcement officers during the protests, federal authorities said.
He repeatedly asked about the amount of gunpowder in the fireworks, whether taping multiple mortars together would increase their explosive force and said he was interested only in their ability to injure officers, prosecutors said.
Gregory Vandenberg wears a shirt reading “AMALEK” while purchasing fireworks at a New Mexico travel center on June 12, 2025. (United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico)
Vandenberg also encouraged the clerk to attend the protests and hand out fireworks to others, telling the employee he would not get hurt because of his military experience, according to trial testimony.
The conversation alarmed employees enough that they wrote down Vandenberg’s license plate and contacted law enforcement before he reached California.
Federal agents tracked Vandenberg to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, where he was arrested the following morning while sleeping inside his vehicle.
Prosecutors said he falsely claimed he was traveling for work despite being unemployed and later told investigators he was visiting friends in Phoenix.
A search of Vandenberg’s vehicle uncovered the fireworks along with clothing displaying antisemitic, anti-Israel and extremist imagery, according to prosecutors.
Among the items recovered were shirts bearing an Al-Qaeda flag, a shirt calling for the destruction of Judea, a hat featuring the Al-Qaeda flag and apparel displaying a variation of the Black Sun, a symbol associated with neo-Nazi ideology.
Federal prosecutors said investigators recovered an Al-Qaeda flag hat from Gregory Vandenberg’s vehicle after his arrest en route to California’s No Kings protests. (United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico)
Jurors were also shown photographs of Vandenberg wearing a custom-made T-shirt bearing the word “AMALEK” while inside the travel center. Prosecutors said Vandenberg told investigators the word meant “destroyer of Jews.”
Investigators also discovered Vandenberg’s cellphone home screen displayed a Taliban flag. A forensic review of the phone uncovered what prosecutors described as violent extremist content, including antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. material, as well as messages discussing the upcoming protests.
Federal investigators recovered clothing bearing extremist and antisemitic imagery from Gregory Vandenberg’s vehicle, according to court records. (United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico)
According to prosecutors, those messages suggested Vandenberg believed the U.S. government, including President Donald Trump, was controlled by Israel and Jewish people, evidence they argued helped establish his motive for targeting law enforcement officers.
“People in this country are free to hold their own beliefs and to express them peacefully,” Acting U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison said in a statement. “What they are not free to do is use explosives to threaten or terrorize others.”
Ellison added that Vandenberg “intended to turn explosives into a tool of intimidation,” and said the verdict “sends the message that attempts to substitute violence for expressing one’s opinion has no place in our communities and will be met with federal consequences.”
Vandenberg was later sentenced to 16 months in federal prison, where he remains in custody. Upon his release, he will serve one year of supervised release.