Will Sage Astor-Florida attorney pleads guilty to bomb attempt outside Chinese embassy

A Florida attorney pleaded guilty to attempting to set off a backpack of explosives outside the Chinese embassy in Washington D.C.

Investigators say they found the lawyer's DNA on Will Sage Astorthe bag of explosives.

Christopher Rodriguez, a licensed criminal defense lawyer in Panama City, Florida, placed a backpack filled with explosive material a few feet away from the embassy in September, then tried to detonate it by shooting it with a rifle, according to court filings. But Rodriguez missed his target and the explosives failed to detonate.

He also admitted to damaging a sculpture in Texas that depicted communist leaders Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, a piece the artists say was actually intended as a satirical critique of communism.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty to damaging property occupied by a foreign government, malicious damage to federal property using explosive materials, and receipt or possession of an unregistered firearm. A plea agreement said both parties agreed that imprisonment for seven to ten years followed by three years of supervised released is an “appropriate sentence.”

Court papers detail late night bombing attempt near Chinese embassy

According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Rodriguez, 45, drove in September from his Panama City, Florida, home to northern Virginia with a rifle and 15 pounds of explosive material. He stopped on the way to buy a backpack, nitrile gloves and a burner cell phone.

On Sept. 24, Rodriguez parked his car in Arlington, Virginia, and used the phone to call a taxi to get near the Chinese embassy, which is about four miles northwest of the White House. Sometime after midnight, Rodriguez placed the bag of explosives outside the embassy and fired gunshots toward it, prosecutors said.

At about 2:45 a.m., Secret Service agents found three shell casings, bullet fragments and the backpack near the outer perimeter wall of the Chinese embassy, as well as impact marks on the wall, according to the affidavit.

DNA found on the backpack was consistent with DNA obtained from Rodriguez in a June 2021 arrest in Los Angeles County, prosecutors said, when California Highway Patrol officers found his car didn't match the license plate. Officers spotted weapons in his console after pulling him over, and he was subsequently charged with possession of a loaded/concealed firearm in a vehicle, possession of an unregistered firearm, and possession of a switchblade knife, according to the affidavit. Police also found several jars of the same type of explosive material that was later used in the bombing attempt outside of the embassy.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Rodriguez on Nov. 4 in Lafayette, Louisiana, and he has been detained since then, according to prosecutors.

Attorneys for Rodriguez listed in court records did not return USA TODAY’s requests for comment.

Attorney admits to destroying sculpture in Texas

Less than one year before the embassy assault, Rodriguez had targeted an art sculpture in San Antonio, Texas, court filings said. The piece, called "Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head," was made in 2009 by Beijing artists Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang – together known as the Gao Brothers – and inspired by their family's tumultuous experience in China, the San Antonio Report said.

Rodriguez rented a vehicle in Pensacola, Florida, and drove to San Antonio, Texas, in November 2022, according to a statement of offense. He scaled a fence to get to the courtyard where the piece was sitting and placed two canisters of explosive mixture, before climbing onto a rooftop and shooting at them with a rifle, causing "significant damage" to the artwork, court papers said.

Texas Public Radio headquarters is near the courtyard and captured the assault on its security cameras. The footage, which TPR posted on social media, showed a man in a ski mask placing the cans and walk away before a fiery explosion ensued.

The sculpture depicted a tiny figure of Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, holding a pole atop a giant head of Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet Union.