Man with alleged explosive arrested outside DC Catholic church ahead of Red Mass with prominent public officials

A man was arrested on the steps of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C., after allegedly refusing to leave when police say they found vials of liquid and possible fireworks in his tent.

Police were on alert because of the upcoming Red Mass, offered for members of the legal profession and where public officials and other prominent attendees receive heightened security. The annual service is scheduled just ahead of the beginning of the U.S. Supreme Court session.

‘The goal is to cause fear. And I'm not afraid. I'm not going to reward threats with their intended reaction.’

Forty-one-year-old Louis Geri of Vineland, New Jersey, was seen loitering outside of the church, so officers approached him at about 6 a.m. on Sunday. They found that he had set up a tent on the steps of the church before police determined that he had been previously banned from the church. When he allegedly refused to leave, he was arrested.

Police then searched the man’s tent and found what were described as vials of liquid and possible fireworks.

The Metropolitan Police Department's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team and the Arson Task Force responded to the incident as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The entrance to the cathedral was closed while the investigation continued.

Geri was charged with possession of a Molotov cocktail as well as unlawful entry and threats to kidnap or injure a person.

No Supreme Court justices appeared to have attended the Red Mass.

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Police did not say why Geri had been previously banned from the church.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a devout Catholic, has said the threats made against the Supreme Court would not deter her from her duties.

"You can't live your life in fear," she stated. "And I think people who threaten — the goal is to cause fear. And I'm not afraid. I'm not going to reward threats with their intended reaction."

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