Former Navy SEAL gets 16 months for explosives plot targeting police

A former U.S. Navy SEAL who planned to throw fireworks at police in California during a “No Kings” protest last year was sentenced to 16 months in prison, law enforcement officials said this week.

Gregory Vandenberg, 49, was convicted in January of transporting explosives with intent to kill, injure or intimidate and attempting to transport prohibited fireworks, the Justice Department said Monday.

He was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., according to court records.

Vandenberg was arrested with the explosives while driving from Texas to California on June 13, 2025, after federal agents tracked his vehicle to a military base in Tucson, Ariz., the Justice Department said.

During Vandenberg’s arrest, officers recovered six large mortar fireworks containing 60 grams of gunpowder each, 72 M-150 firecrackers and antisemitic, anti-Israel and extremist clothing, including a shirt featuring the al-Qaida flag, court records said.

He was reported to police on June 12, two days before the planned nationwide protests, by staff at a travel center off Interstate 10 near Lordsburg, N.M., the statement said.

He told a store clerk that he planned to throw powerful explosives at law enforcement and asked detailed questions about their destructive power. He was not interested in the color or appearance of the fireworks, the statement said.

Store employees recorded his license plate and contacted police, the statement said. He was found asleep in his car at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

Vandenberg was unemployed but told authorities he was on a work trip, prosecutors said.