Former Navy SEAL sentenced for transporting explosives to throw at protests while traveling from El Paso

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A former U.S. Navy SEAL who intended to use explosives against law enforcement officers at protests was sentenced to 16 months in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Mexico said Monday. Prosecutors argued 49-year-old Gregory Vandenberg was motivated by extremist, antisemitic beliefs, officials said.

Court records said Vandenberg was traveling from El Paso to San Diego in June 2025 to attend a "No Kings Day" protest.

While in New Mexico, he visited a travel center near Lordsburg and bought six large mortar fireworks, which are designed to shoot high into the air and explode, officials said. He also bought firecrackers designed to sound like gunfire, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

During this visit, Vandenberg asked questions about gunpowder in the fireworks, their explosive impact and ability to hurt people, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He reportedly said he wasn't interested in the color or display -- only the firework's ability to create explosions and injure officers, officials said.

He also encouraged the store clerk to join him at the protests and talked about distributing fireworks to others at the event, officials said.

Employees recorded his license plate and contacted law enforcement. Authorities later alleged Vandenberg planned to use the fireworks against law enforcement at the protests, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Prosecutors described the conduct as posing a serious risk of injury or death to officers and bystanders alike.

Federal agents tracked Vandenberg to Tucson, Arizona, and arrested him while he was sleeping in his car at an Air Force base, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Vandenberg claimed he was traveling for work and was visiting friends in Phoenix. The U.S. Attorney's Office said he was unemployed at the time.

Authorities searched Vandenberg's car and found the fireworks and clothes displaying antisemitic and extremist imagery, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. His clothes included a shirt with the Al-Qaeda flag. His phone reportedly had the Taliban flag on the home screen, officials said.

Investigators later learned Vandenberg had a shirt that said "AMALEK," or "destroyer of Jews," at the store he bought the fireworks from.

Further review of his phone revealed antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-U.S. and extremist content, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. It said those views motivated him to target law enforcement at the protests in California.

In January 2026, a federal jury convicted Vandenberg of transportation of explosives with intent to kill, injure or intimidate and attempted transportation of banned fireworks into California.

Upon his release from prison, he will be subject to one year of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The Las Cruces Resident Agency of the FBI's Albuquerque Field Office helped investigate the case.