WASHINGTON, D.C. — Christopher Rodriguez, 45, of Panama City, Fla., pleaded guilty to charges related to a September 2023 attempted bombing outside the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington, D.C., and a November 2022 bombing of a sculpture in San Antonio, Texas.
U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and ATF Special Agent Craig B. Kailimai announced the plea. Rodriguez, a licensed Florida attorney, admitted to damaging property occupied by a foreign government, malicious damage to federal property using explosive materials, and possession of an unregistered firearm (destructive device).
Court documents reveal that on September 23-24, 2023, Rodriguez traveled from Panama City, Fla., to Northern Virginia with a rifle and 15 pounds of explosive material. He purchased a black backpack, nitrile gloves, and a burner phone in Harrisonburg and Charlottesville, Va. On September 24, he parked in Arlington, Va., and took a taxi near the Chinese Embassy. Between midnight and 3:00 a.m., Rodriguez placed the backpack with explosives near a streetlight and attempted to detonate it by shooting at the backpack. The device failed to detonate, and law enforcement later recovered the explosive materials and bullet fragments from the scene.
DNA evidence from the backpack matched DNA from Rodriguez’s previous arrest in June 2021 in California, where he possessed firearms and explosive materials similar to those used in the embassy attack.
On November 7, 2022, Rodriguez scaled an eight-foot fence in San Antonio, Texas, and placed explosive canisters at the base of a sculpture titled “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head.” He caused an explosion that significantly damaged the sculpture by shooting at the canisters.
The ATF arrested Rodriguez on November 4, 2023, in Lafayette, La., and he has been in custody since.
The investigation was conducted by the ATF Washington Field Division with assistance from multiple U.S. Attorney’s Offices, ATF field divisions, FBI field offices, the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of State, and the Metropolitan Police Department.