A man from New Jersey was arrested on Sunday, October 5, 2025, near a Washington, D.C., cathedral with over 200 explosive devices. This arrest took place shortly before the annual Red Mass, an event typically attended by Supreme Court justices and other legal officials.
Louis Geri, 41, from Vineland, New Jersey, was apprehended around 6 a.m. outside the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle after he set up a tent on the church steps and ignored police orders to vacate. Officers were conducting a security check in preparation for the Red Mass, which marks the beginning of the Supreme Court’s new term.
When engaged by police, Geri warned them to step back and contact federal authorities due to his possession of explosives. The Metropolitan Police Department’s Bomb Squad sent a technician to negotiate with Geri, who remained in his tent.
Geri threatened to demonstrate the capability of his weapons by detonating one in the street, claiming to have more than 100 explosive devices. He also warned that officers would be harmed if they attempted to forcibly remove him.
Geri handed over a nine-page manifesto titled “Written Negotiations for the Avoidance of Destruction of Property via Detonation of Explosives.” This document expressed animosity toward the Catholic Church, Jewish people, Supreme Court members, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agencies and facilities.
The police arrested Geri when he moved away from his tent near the corner of the church property. A search revealed a vial of explosive material and a butane lighter in his pocket.
The bomb squad’s inspection of Geri’s tent uncovered a substantial cache of handmade explosive devices. These included grenades, Molotov cocktails, bottle rockets modified with aluminum foil heads treated in a pyrotechnic solution, and vials containing nitromethane, the same compound used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
In police interviews, Geri described his devices as grenades and explosives with nitromethane, using rubber bands to secure fuses for detonation. He also outlined a plan to use modified bottle rockets to detonate the devices from afar. Police noted that some devices emitted a strong chemical smell and appeared to be operational.
This was not Geri’s first incident with cathedral security. Church records indicated he had been previously banned from the premises after setting up a tent on the steps on September 26, 2025. A business manager at St. Matthew’s provided legal documents regarding the earlier incident.
Court records show Geri has a criminal history in Arizona, where he was convicted of indecent exposure in Scottsdale in 2021. He received probation but violated it, serving several months in Arizona’s prison system before being released in May 2023. During his trial in Arizona, Geri represented himself, arguing that public nudity was a constitutional right.
The Red Mass is an annual Catholic ceremony held on the Sunday before the Supreme Court’s new term begins. This tradition, celebrated for 73 years, seeks blessings for those responsible for administering justice and typically attracts Supreme Court justices, diplomats, and other legal officials.
As a result of the security threat, this year’s ceremony did not include any Supreme Court justices, according to a court spokesperson. The Red Mass’s start was delayed while authorities secured the area, but police later confirmed no ongoing threat to public safety.
During Sunday’s Mass, Cardinal Robert McElroy addressed the importance of reducing confrontational political rhetoric, warning that it can lead to political violence. He cited recent assassination attempts and the January 6 Capitol assault as examples of the progression from civil dialogue to force and fear.
The incident occurred just days after a California man was sentenced to eight years in prison for an attempted assassination of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2022. Threats and violence against Supreme Court justices have increased as political tensions have risen, particularly following the 2022 leak of the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Geri faces several charges, including unlawful entry, possession of a Molotov cocktail, threats to kidnap or injure a person, assault on a police officer, manufacture or possession of a weapon of mass destruction as a hate crime, and resisting arrest. He is being held without bond.
The investigation involves several agencies, including the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Geri acknowledged awareness of the 9 a.m. Red Mass when confronted by police.
