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A 40-year-old San Antonio-area man has been arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on the Texas State Capitol in Austin that was set for Thursday, state officials said.
Getting into it: The Texas Department of Public Safety said it received a tip Tuesday evening with “credible information about an individual planning a violent attack.” DPS SWAT officers, with help from the FBI, arrested Benny Caldera Jr. at his home near San Antonio around 3 a.m. Wednesday. According to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by NBC 5 DFW, a friend told officers that Caldera said he was angry at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and that “these people have to be exterminated.”
“I am going to the Capitol and I am going to shoot it up,” Caldera allegedly told the friend, according to the affidavit, adding, “I love you, if you don’t see me again.”
Caldera was charged with a felony terroristic threat against a public servant. He also faced a weapons charge in November 2023 for carrying a weapon without a license, according to Bexar County court records.
Bexar County jail records listed Caldera as released on a $75,000 bond, which Republican state Sen. Tan Parker called “a joke.” But DPS said reports of his release were “misinformation” and that the FBI re-arrested him on additional federal charges and took him into custody, though officials haven’t said what those charges are.
An email from the Texas Senate secretary to Capitol staff, obtained by The Texas Tribune, described Caldera as the “main suspect” and said others were suspected of helping plan the attack, but DPS hasn’t mentioned any other suspects and later said there is “no reason to believe that there is an ongoing threat.” The Capitol stayed open Wednesday with extra security.
In a statement, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said, “Texas will NOT tolerate threats of violence against our Capitol.”
