Man pleads guilty to arson after pouring gasoline on Supreme Court vehicles

A Maryland man pleaded guilty to arson Tuesday after pouring gasoline on Supreme Court vehicles in July 2020.

Cody Tarner, 26, was seen on security camera footage pouring gasoline on three unmarked Supreme Court police vehicles around 3 1/2 years ago, according to a press release from federal prosecutors. When he poured the gasoline, some of it got onto himself and his clothes.

“The unmarked vehicles had emergency police lights visible from the outside of the vehicles, and one of the vehicles had emergency police lights on the roof of the vehicle,” the release read.

“Tarner was then seen lighting one of the vehicles on fire resulting in a violent ignition of the gasoline. This action resulted in Tarner also being engulfed in the fire causing severe burns and injuries to himself.”

The release said Tarner admitted to starting the fire using gas he purchased in Pennsylvania.

“The investigation revealed that Tarner had several prior encounters with law enforcement in which he expressed anti-government and militia extremist ideologies. Tarner also claimed to be the leader of an identified militia group,” it added.

Tarner has a sentencing hearing scheduled for May.

The Supreme Court was not in session at the time of the incident, and Congress wasn’t in Washington, but a loud bang from the explosion was heard by those in the Capitol.