A Florida lawyer on Friday pleaded guilty to setting off a bomb at the base of a controversial sculpture near the headquarters of Texas Public Radio in November 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Christopher Rodriguez of Panama City also pleaded guilty to an attempted bombing of the Chinese embassy in Washington, D..C. that took place in September 2023.
The sculpture, entitled “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head,” depicts a massive polished steel head of Vladimir Lenin, with a tiny Mao Zedong balanced on top. Created by Beijing artists Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang, known as the Gao Brothers, the sculpture was brought to San Antonio by developer and art collector James Lifshutz.
A satirical critique on communism, the sculpture was first displayed in British Columbia for the Vancouver Biennale’s 2009-2011 open-air exhibition. Its arrival in San Antonio was met with angry criticism from those who understood it to be a defense of communism.
Security footage released by TPR in the days following the explosion showed a man wearing a face mask, lime green shirt, black pants, black hat and a black armband approaching the sculpture at 2:25 a.m., per the camera timestamp. Startled by an automatic light that detects his movement, the man pauses, then places something at the base of the sculpture.
The explosive device detonated at 2:31 a.m., according to the footage. The FBI joined the San Antonio Police Department in the subsequent investigation.
Rodriguez, a licensed Florida attorney, pleaded guilty to damaging property occupied by a foreign government, explosive materials — malicious damage to federal property, and receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm (destructive device).
DNA obtained from a backpack recovered at the scene of the attempted embassy bombing was linked to Rodriguez via an arrest in June 2021 in California. It’s unclear from the DOJ press release how Rodriguez was linked to the San Antonio bombing.
According to court documents, on Sept. 23 or 24, 2023, Rodriguez “drove from his Florida home to Northern Virginia with a rifle and 15 pounds of explosive material.”
He stopped on the way to buy a black backpack, nitrile gloves and a burner cellphone. He used the burner phone to order a taxi, which drove him close to the Chinese Embassy. Sometime between midnight and 3 a.m., officials say, Rodriguez placed the black backpack filled with explosives next to a streetlight, then attempted to detonate the backpack by shooting it with a rifle.
He missed, and the device failed to detonate. Law enforcement officers recovered the backpack, which contained explosive material. Three shell casings and bullet fragmentations were recovered from the grounds along the outer perimeter wall of the Chinese Embassy.
And nearly two years ago, Rodriguez apparently rented a car from Pensacola and drove to San Antonio, according to court documents. On Nov. 7, 2022 he scaled an eight-foot fence to enter the courtyard in the 300 block of West Commerce Street, placed two canisters of explosives at the base of the sculpture and then used a rifle to shoot at the canisters, causing an explosion that caused “significant damage” to the Miss Mao sculpture.
In the 2021 California arrest, Rodriguez possessed three firearms and explosive material consistent with the explosives used during the Chinese Embassy attack. A subsequent DNA test confirmed the match.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Rodriguez on Nov. 4, 2023 in Lafayette, LA. He has been held since then, according to the department.
According to the Florida Bar, Rodriguez heads up his own practice, the Rodriguez Firm. He was admitted to that state’s bar in 2018. He has no disciplinary history, according to the bar’s website.
The plea was announced Friday by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves of the District of Columbia and Special Agent in Charge Craig B. Kailimai of the ATF’s Washington Field Division. The FBI’s Washington and San Antonio field offices, and the San Antonio field office of the Homeland Security Department provided assistance into the investigation.
Reporters Raquel Torres and Nicholas Frank contributed to this report.