GI Hater: Antonio Martinez
On December 8, 2010, Antonio Benjamin Martinez detonated what he thought was an vehicle-borne explosive device at a military career center outside Baltimore, MD. It occurred a little over a year after Section 4712 of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act made it a hate crime to target victims “on account of their military service.” Martinez was never charged with a hate crime under 18 U.S.C. § 1389.
According to the initial complaint, Martinez wanted to send a message by blowing up a recruiting center; "[w]hoever joins the military, they will be killed." Unbeknownst to him, his fellow mujahideen were confidential sources for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After visually inspecting the device in a parked van, he accompanied an undercover agent to a protected vantage point where he could watch the anticipated human suffering. He was not arrested until after he triggered the inert ordnance.
In court, Martinez was charged with 18 U.S.C. § 1114(3), Attempted Murder of Federal Officers/Employees, as the indictment read. But he told the FBI that his goal was “seeking to attack and kill military personnel.” Recruiting centers are staffed by noncommissioned officers and lower enlisted soldiers on Hometown Recruiting Assistance leave, not commanders and defense civilians. On the one hand, you could say the Baltimore targets were getting a kind of promotion by being treated as higher ranking than they likely were. But on the other,
Why shouldn’t grunts be protected the same as everyone else?
News Coverage
“Man Arrested in Bomb Plot in Maryland” New York Times (Dec 8, 2010)
“Maryland Man Charged in Plot to Attack Armed Forces Recruiting Center” FBI.gov (Dec. 8, 2010)
Criminal Charges
1114(3) Protection of officers and employees of the United States; attempted
2332a Use of weapons of mass destruction
