Molotov cocktails, cache of firearms found in truck
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – An Alabama man who parked a truck filled with Molotov cocktails and a cache of firearms blocks from the U.S. Capitol last week had “concerning” handwritten notes that named an Obama-appointed federal judge a “bad guy,” singled out a Muslim representative and listed contact information for conservative media personalities, according to court records.
The materials were unsealed Tuesday in the federal case against Lonnie Coffman, who was formally indicted on 17 separate weapons charges after his arrest Jan. 6.
Prosecutors included photos of his various weapons and handwritten notes in a motion for pretrial detention, arguing the “handwritten messages raise alarm in the context of the Jan. 6 rioting and criminal infringement on our nation’s democratic process.”
Coffman, 70, was arrested after a chaotic pro-Trump rally that descended into a riot and deadly insurrection inside the halls of Congress.
“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 wrote in a detention 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.”
Coffman had five illegal firearms, according to prosecutors – two pistols, one revolver, an AR-15 rifle and a shotgun – in addition to the Molotov cocktails and a “large capacity ammo feeding device.”
Charges against Coffman include possession of an unregistered firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, carrying a rifle or shotgun outside a home or place of business, possession of a large ammunition feeding device, and unlawful possession of ammunition.
“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,” the motion for pretrial detention said.
“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.”
Coffman was not charged with illegally entering a federal building or civil disorder, as some others participating directly in the Capitol riot have been.
In addition to handwritten notes labeling conservative and right-wing media personalities “good guys” and a “Good Girl,” Coffman scrawled a quote attributed to President 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.”
The quote comes from a speech Lincoln gave in Cincinnati on Sept. 17, 1859, on behalf of Republican candidates and was not a call for violent insurrection. Lincoln criticized his longtime rival, Democratic Illinois Sen. Stephen Douglas, for saying that he “did not care” if slavery was “voted up or down.”