Napa Man Sentenced For Plot To Blow Up Democratic HQ In Sacramento

NAPA, CA — In the wake of the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a Napa auto repair mechanic and a friend from Vallejo plotted to blow up the headquarters of the Democratic Party in Sacramento.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer sentenced Ian Benjamin Rogers, 46, to 108 months in federal custody for his role in the conspiracy. Rogers' co-conspirator, Jarrod Copeland, 39, of Vallejo, was sentenced to 54 months.

Rogers was arrested in January 2021, shortly before President Joe Biden's inauguration, when a tip led the government to seize a cache of weapons from Rogers' home and business including approximately 50 guns, 15,000 rounds of ammunition and five pipe bombs.

Text messages between Rogers and Copeland obtained by the FBI showed that the two had a running dialogue about their discontent with the election results and their desire to ignite a movement to overturn the government.

In one exchange Copeland said, "remember WE ARE THE OUTLAWS civil war is the only option."
Rogers responded, "Outlaws and freedom fighters are the same thing depending on your viewpoint ... And also terrorists. But in reality, we are patriots."

The text messages revealed that the two first decided to target the Governor's Mansion but abandoned that location in favor of the John L. Burton Democratic Headquarters. They thought an attack on the headquarters with firearms would be too loud and would attract police. They decided instead that with 17 gallons of gasoline "that place will burn good."

In one exchange, the two recognized that they would be outnumbered and the police would be "turned against us." Rogers summed up their choice as "do we obey the constitution or bullshit."
The messages suggest that after torching the Democratic headquarters, their next targets were to be Twitter and Facebook, apparently because the social media platforms had removed former President Donald Trump's accounts.

Both defendants were charged with conspiracy to destroy by fire or explosives a building used in interstate commerce, as well as obstruction of justice. Rogers was also charged with weapons offenses, including the illegal possession of machine guns.

Rogers and Copeland both pleaded guilty and entered plea agreements with the government. Rogers' agreement presented a range of time for his incarceration and left it to the court to decide the exact amount.

Rogers argued for a sentence on the low range of what was contained in the plea agreement, pointing out that he had not in fact attacked the target, just talked about it.

The sentencing memorandum submitted by his lawyer began: "Good people make mistakes. Mr. Rogers will be the first one to tell you he made a huge mistake."

The filing went on to describe how Rogers began drinking "more excessively" after his 2016 divorce. "His drinking increased following the 2020 election when he then began bloviating, via text, with his co-defendant, about blowing up or shooting up government buildings."

According to the lawyer, Rogers had no prior convictions and "has excellent employment skills, strong moral values, incredible continued support from his family and friends and the heart and soul to be a law-abiding and productive member of our community."

The memorandum attached a number of letters in support of Rogers. His wife wrote that she was from Ukraine and after meeting Rogers in 2019, they were married on Valentine's Day in 2020. She wrote that during the time they were processing her immigration documents, "we also communicated via Viber every day, almost every hour, given our time difference. It was like a fairy tale." Viber is a messaging and calling app.

She said, "We were endlessly in love with each other and could not wait for the decision of the immigration office so we could start our family life together."

Her letter went on to say that Rogers had been a gun collector for over 20 years and that media stories unfairly used his collection to suggest that he was a man prepared to use the weapons "for terror."

She chalked up his actions up to stress, excessive alcohol and "silly drunken conversations with friends."

She conceded that they had not been married long, but even though "we did not have time to celebrate our first wedding anniversary ... I have always been by his side during this difficult period and I have seen him for real both drunk and sober... my husband is not capable of terror, he will never harm anyone."

Other supporting letters came from Rogers' ex-wife, his children, other family members and friends. Many said they were shocked by news of his actions and were sure he did not intend to carry them out.

The government's sentencing memorandum painted a different portrait.

While Rogers had not effectuated the attack, he and Copeland had worked out many of the details of their plan by the end of November 2020.

"The January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol energized them, and they waited to see whether the inauguration on January 20, 2021, would go forward before initiating their attacks."

The government did not buy the idea that Rogers was merely talking tough.

In a post-arrest interview with the Napa County Sheriff's Office, Rogers said at first that while he has thought about fighting the government, "it's always when I'm inebriated. You wake up and you go, 'It's not a good idea."

He then added that he didn't want to hurt any innocent people, but "maybe if you could attack the right people ... people who are really causing problems in the world, like George Soros. I mean, you know, it's kind of satisfying to think of hurting some scumbag like that."

The government also pointed out that in addition to alcohol, Rogers was a steroid abuser. Steroids were found in his home after his arrest.

The government said that even though Rogers had no criminal convictions, he had been arrested in August 2020 when "he and his current wife got into an altercation that became physical and spilled out into the front yard, and one of the neighbors called police."

The government's arguments proved successful. Judge Breyer, describing Rogers' conduct as "an act of terrorism," imposed a sentence on him at the maximum of the range suggested in the plea agreement.

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