A transgender individual with ties to left-wing extremist groups was sentenced to nine years in federal prison on Thursday for setting off a makeshift explosive device outside the Alabama Attorney General’s office in Montgomery earlier this year.
Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert, 26, pleaded guilty in federal court to the malicious use of an explosive device earlier this year. Calvert detonated the improvised explosive device outside the Montgomery office of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall on February 24.
When entering the plea, Calvert admitted to constructing the device himself using a collection of household items such as nails and screws to act as shrapnel, as well as accelerants to ignite the explosive. Prosecutors have stated that Calvert filled the device with maximum shrapnel in order to cause the most damage.
The explosion occurred after Calvert lit the fuse and immediately fled the scene. The 26-year-old was ultimately apprehended by law enforcement on April 10.
Calvert had previously expressed support for Antifa and other left-wing extremist groups on social media, the DOJ said. He also endorsed the idea of political violence against the government and placed pro-Antifa stickers near the scene of the crime. The far-left extremist has claimed that he