Houston Man Sentenced In Attempted Confederate Statue Bombing

HOUSTON -- A man who was caught trying to plant explosives at the base of a Confederate statue in downtown Houston last year was sentenced Friday to federal prison. Andrew Schneck, 26, was sentenced to six years for trying to bomb the Gen. Richard Dowling statue in Hermann Park on Aug. 19.

Schneck was caught hiding in the bushes near the statue by a park ranger and was holding two small boxes with duct tape and wire, and a bottle of explosive liquid. The ranger told Schneck to put the items down. Schneck put the items down and then tried to drink the clear liquid before spitting it out.

The Houston Police bomb squad was called and Schneck was arrested. The next morning FBI agents and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided Schneck's home in the 2000 block of Albans Road in southwest Houston searching for more explosive materials.

An analysis determined the liquid and a white powdery substance found in a metal tube were nitroglycerin and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine, a highly explosive compound, according to prosecutors. Federal investigators said the items would have caused significant damage if they'd been detonated.

SEE ALSO: Houston Man Caught Planting Explosives At Confederate Statue

It was Schneck’s second brush with the law. His house was raided in 2013 and he was convicted in 2014 of storing explosives. He was on probation for the 2013 offense when he was arrested last year.

His arrest came a day after hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters gathered in downtown to demand the removal of the Spirit of the Confederacy Statue from Sam Houston Park.

Schneck will remain in federal custody until he is transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

(For more news and information like this, subscribe to Patch for free. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Image: Shutterstock

Send your news tips and story ideas to bryan.kirk@patch.com