A suspect in connection to the fire set outside of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) office in Vermont has been arrested.
Shant Soghomonian, 35, also known as Michael Soghomonian from California, was arrested in connection to “using fire to damage a building” in Sanders’s office on a high-foot traffic street in Burlington, Vermont, the Department of Justice announced Sunday.
According to court records, Soghomonian entered the building Friday morning and went to the floor where Sanders’ office is located. There, security footage allegedly showed him spraying a liquid on the outer door before using a hand-held lighter to light the area aflame.
The door frame was damaged, and sprinklers were triggered inside the building due to the fire. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found “a fire in the vestibule between the elevator and the entrance door to [Sanders’] office.”
Multiple Sanders employees were in the building at the time, but no one was injured.
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“I am deeply grateful to the swift, professional, coordinated efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement in response to the fire at my Vermont office on Friday,” A Sanders statement on the fire said. “I am also thankful that none of the many people who were in the office building at the time of the fire were injured.”
A motive for the attack remains unclear. If Soghomonian is found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, with a fine of up to $250,500.
