A 45-year-old attorney from Florida pleaded guilty on Friday in Washington D.C. to the bombing of a satirical sculpture of communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong in downtown San Antonio.
Christopher Rodriguez, 45, a licensed attorney from Panama City, Florida, detonated an explosive device in November 2022 on property adjacent to Texas Public Radio.
Rodriguez also entered the plea to an attempted bombing in September 2023 outside the embassy of the People's Republic of China in Washington D.C.
What appears to be a bomb was detonated under a sculpture next to the TPR headquarters in San Antonio early Monday morning. The sculpture is not on our property.
— Texas Public Radio (@TPRNews) November 7, 2022
This footage is from our security cameras.
The FBI, SAPD, SAFD and other agencies are investigating. pic.twitter.com/NjVn2io26K
In the early morning hours of Nov. 7, 2022, Rodriguez drove from Pensacola to San Antonio. Authorities said he placed two canisters of explosive materials at the base of the steel sculpture in San Antonio, titled “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head.” The sculpture is a traveling art piece that has been installed in several cities in the U.S.
He used a rifle to shoot at the canisters at the base of the statue, causing an explosion that caused significant damage to the sculpture.
The ATF arrested Rodriguez on Nov. 4, 2023, in Lafayette, Louisiana. He has been held since that date.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty Friday to damaging property occupied by a foreign government, explosive materials — malicious damage to federal property, and receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm.
The case was investigated by more than a dozen agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the FBI’s Washington and San Antonio field offices; the San Antonio field office of the Department of Homeland Security; Homeland Security Investigations; and the U.S. Secret Service.
