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Man arrested for setting Sen. Bernie Sanders’s office in Vermont on fire
[IsraelTimes] Police apprehended 35-year-old suspect who sprayed liquid on floor of lawmaker’s office before setting it ablaze; building interior damaged, but no casualties reported

A man was charged on Sunday with setting a fire outside the Vermont office of US Sen. Bernie Sanders
...The only first openly Socialist member of the U.S. Senate. Sanders was Representative-for-Life from Vermont until moving to the Senate for the rest of his life in 2006, assuming the seat vacated by Jim Jeffords. He ran for the 2016 nomination for president, to be cheated out of it by Hillary Clinton, then went back to being an Independent socialist, waiting for 2020 to roll around...
, federal prosecutors said.

Shant Soghomonian, 35, who was previously of Northridge, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, entered the building on Friday and went to Sanders’ third-floor office where security video showed him spraying a liquid on the door and setting it afire, officials said.

The building’s interior suffered some damage from the fire and sprinklers that doused the area with water, but no one was hurt. Sanders, an independent, was not in the office at the time.

Soghomonian was arrested Sunday on a charge of using fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce, according to a statement from Nikolas Kerest, the US attorney for Vermont.

The motive remained unclear. Soghomonian was detained Sunday and could not be reached for comment. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer, and an initial court appearance had not been set, officials said.

The crime carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The case was investigated by police departments in Burlington, Shelburne and Williston; Vermont State Police; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and US Capitol Police, officials said.
Police said they believe Shant Michael Soghomonian, 33, was hanging around Sanders’ Burlington office the day before the fire and said he had been a "long-term guest" at a Chittenden County hotel.

Inn at Burlington staff, who recognized Soghomonian from an image released by police, told authorities that the man had stayed at the hotel for "several weeks" or "close to two months."

Police matched Soghomian to security camera images from the Inn at Burlington, wearing what appeared to be a similar orange winter hat in which he was seen around the time of the arson.

In an affidavit, Eric Brimo, a special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wrote that Shelburne Police located Soghomonian’s Subaru Impreza, with New York plates, at the Quality Inn in Shelburne early Sunday morning.

Hotel staff informed police which room Soghomonian was staying in and that he was due for checkout later that morning, according to the affidavit.

After knocking on his door and requesting entrance, "officers then heard what sounded like the individual dragging heavy items near the door," Brimo wrote.

Fearing a barricade, officers requested a key to the door but found their entrance blocked, according to the affidavit. Upon forcing entry, police took Soghomonian into custody.

No court date appears to have been set for Soghomonian. He’s currently held at Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, according to Vermont’s inmate locator.
Posted by: trailing wife 2024-04-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=696226