Feds: Texas man tried planting bomb on statue

Associated Press

HOUSTON

A Houston man who’s previously been convicted on explosives-related charges has been arrested after purportedly being caught trying to plant explosives on a Confederate statue at a Houston park, authorities said Monday.

Prosecutors allege 25-year-old Andrew Schneck was caught Saturday evening near a statue of Richard Dowling, a lieutenant in the Confederate army. A Houston park ranger found Schneck holding two boxes with duct tape and wires as well as a bottle and a small tube containing compounds that tests later revealed were explosive materials, according to a criminal complaint.

Schneck’s arrest comes after events in Charlottesville, Va., where a white supremacist rally over the removal of a Confederate statue resulted in three deaths, and the removals of other statues nationwide, including at Duke University and late Sunday evening at the University of Texas at Austin.

Schneck was charged with attempting to maliciously damage or destroy property receiving federal financial assistance. He made his initial court appearance Monday and was to remain in federal custody until a detention hearing Thursday.

Philip Hilder, Schneck’s attorney, declined to comment Monday.