Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is praising law enforcement after they were able to find and arrest the man who allegedly detonated an explosive device outside the Alabama attorney general’s office in late February.
According to the Justice Department, Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert, 26, of Irondale, was charged with malicious use of an explosive and possession of an unregistered destructive device.
The detonation took place in the early-morning hours of Sunday, Feb. 25th, near Washington Avenue and South Bainbridge Street outside the Alabama Attorney General’s office.
According to court documents, the FBI use social media to match the stickers, goggles, and Calvert to the bombing. Investigators also found a video on Calvert’s social media page where he discusses his “violent impulses”. Before the arrest, FBI surveilled Calvert and his 2008 Silver Toyota Camry both at his Irondale home and elsewhere.
Marshall praised the effort of law enforcement during a recent appearance on Talk 99.5 “News and Views.”
“[W]e have a wonderful coalition of both federal and state partners that aggressively pursued this action, and not only as somebody who is responsible for the people that work for me in this building, but also, frankly, as somebody who wondered whether or not he was the target, very grateful for the collaborative efforts of those agencies, because this was not an easy investigation,” Marshall said. “You know, it was not abundantly clear who the target or who the subject was at the beginning, and it took a lot of effort and a lot of good law enforcement work to find him. And I’m really proud of that effort.”
RELATED: Alabama AG office building bomber arrested, identified as 26-year-old Irondale man
According to federal court documents, surveillance footage showed Calvert placing stickers on the doors of the Alabama Statehouse and other government buildings, during the time of the bombing. Those stickers included phrases like, “Support your local Antifa”, “Topple all hierarchies”, “Feminist Action”, “Eat the rich”, and “Friends don’t let friends become cops”.
Marshall believes those stickers prove he was targeted by Calvert most likely targeted for his actions as Attorney General that have been heavily criticized by left wing activists.
“I can tell you there’s roughly 180 people that work in this building that they go work for the people of Alabama that are breathing a sigh of relief,” he said, “because I think we feel targeted. And look, the work that I do puts my face out there on many of the controversial issues those on the left don’t like. And the fact that we have an Antifa loving individual that came very intentionally to Montgomery, clearly placed an explosive device at our building, that’s a significant threat to our government here in Montgomery, but also to the way in which we conduct our business.”
The attorney general also criticized the coverage of the story in the media, believing they would have focused on it more if the suspect were a Trump supporter.
“[Y]ou add to not only his philosophical beliefs, but the fact that he is on social media talking about his violent tendencies and his aggressive behavior,” he argued. “I mean, this is the recipe for disaster that we saw in Seattle and Portland and other places around the country. And can you imagine if His face had been seen as somebody that was in DC on January 6, what the story would be about?”
Calvert made it clear on his social media that he had violent inclinations.
“I am impulsive by nature in some way that can often be violent, or my impulses are violent.” Said Calvert. “Some might call those intrusive thoughts, some might just call them violent impulse, I think too often we do not talk about how difficult it is for violent people to overcome that [violent impulses].”
Kyle Calvert also pondered in one of his posts, “How the **** are we not killing the government right now?”
Calvert could face up to 20 years in prison with a mandatory minimum of five years behind bars if convicted. One of the charges carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, while another has a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
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