VIDEO: See homemade bombs, guns found in Alabama grandfather’s truck found near U.S. Capitol

Published 5:10 pm Tuesday, January 12, 2021

Federal prosecutors unsealed the case Tuesday against an Alabama grandfather accused of bringing homemade bombs and a cache of weapons to Washington, D.C., on the day rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol.

Lonnie Coffman, 70, was formally indicted on 17 weapons charges after he was arrested on January 6.

Federal prosecutors revealed evidence photos showing guns found in Coffman’s truck parked blocks from the Capitol along with an ice chest filled with Molotov cocktails and handwritten notes that appear to label a judge as a “bad guy” and list a Muslim U.S. representative by name and information regarding members of the conservative media.

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Prosecutors said the “handwritten messages raise alarm in the context of the January 6 rioting and criminal infringement on our nation’s democratic process.”

“The Molotov cocktail components were created so as to be particularly lethal, with a napalm substance inside that would stick to the target and continue to burn,” prosecutors allege in a court motion. “The defendant had hundreds of rounds of ammunition, each of which could cost a human life. The pickup truck was parked in close proximity to the U.S. Capitol Building. And the handwritten messages in the defendant’s pickup truck raise grave concerns about his intentions, and suggest that these weapons were intended to be used in an effort to violently attack our elected representatives.”

Investigators said Coffman had five firearms – two semi-automatic pistols, a revolver, a shotgun and an AR-15 high-powered rifle.

The Molotov cocktails, investigators said, were made with Mason jars, gasoline, golf tees and cloth rags. Investigators said Coffman initially told them the liquid inside was gasoline with melted Styrofoam so when ignited the flaming liquid would stick better to any object (or person) it came in contact with.

“The defendant brought these weapons to the immediate vicinity of the U.S. Capitol Building, and traveled the area with two firearms on his person,” prosecutors wrote in their motion seeking Coffman to be detained prior to trial. “The amount of weapons suggests an intent to provide them to others, as no one person could reasonably use so many at once. The nature and seriousness of the danger that the defendant would pose if released cannot be overstated.”

Among the evidence found in his truck, was a handwritten note with a quote Coffman attributed to Abraham Lincoln, “We the people are the rightful masters of both the Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

Prosecutors have not publicly said what Coffman’s possible motives for driving to Washington, D.C., with the weapons and homemade bombs. Coffman is being represented by a public defender.