A 23-year-old California man pleaded guilty to an arson attack on a Republican women’s club in La Quinta, California, in the Summer of 2020, according to a statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Carlos Espriu from Palm Desert who was previously charged with attempted arson in September 2020, after he used a baseball bat to smash windows at the East Valley Republican Women Federated (EVRWF) building, and firebombed the building with Molotov cocktails on May 31 pleaded guilty to one count of arson, according to the DOJ statement.
The masked Espriui reportedly was seen on surveillance cameras returning to the building to smash more windows and recover the Molotov cocktails he had thrown inside. Following this, he returned around “30 seconds later, this time without a mask, and threw the set of bottles into the facility, which immediately caused a fire to start,” according to a DOJ statement from September 2020.
The incident reportedly occurred around 1:15 a.m., and there were no injuries, though the building was shuttered for a while due to damages, News Channel 3 reported.
Following the incident, officials announced a $1,000 reward to anyone with information that would lead to Espriu’s arrest, News Channel 3 reported.
Palm Desert Man Pleads Guilty to Firebombing Republican Club: Carlos Espriu of Palm Desert pleaded guilty to an arson charge and admitted that he used a Molotov cocktail in an attempt to destroy a Republican club office. https://t.co/MuUEskfTHX
— FBI Los Angeles (@FBILosAngeles) March 15, 2021
Days before the firebombing incident at the EVRWF building, Espriu reportedly tweeted, “I wanna go burn shit n get hit with tear gas,” according to the DOJ statement. (RELATED: Arsonist Sentenced To Federal Prison For Fire At Republican Headquarters In Wyoming)
Espriu who already agreed to pay around $5, 426 in order to pay for the damages to the building, is set to be sentenced on May. 24, and if found guilty could serve anywhere from a minimum of five years to a maximum of 20 years in prison.