Ex-Navy SEAL sentenced for plot to attack police at ‘No Kings’ protests

A former U.S. Navy SEAL has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for transporting explosives he planned to use against police officers at the 2025 “No Kings” protests in California, according to federal prosecutors.

Gregory Vandenberg, 49, was sentenced Monday, more than six months after a federal jury convicted him of transporting explosives with intent to kill, injure or intimidate and attempting to bring prohibited fireworks into California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.

Vandenberg was traveling from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego on June 12, 2025, when he stopped at a travel center along Interstate 10 near Lordsburg, New Mexico. The protests were scheduled to take place two days later.

While at the store, Vandenberg purchased six large mortar fireworks and 72 M-150 firecrackers. He told an employee that he intended to throw them at police officers during the protests and asked about their explosive force, the amount of gunpowder they contained and their ability to injure people.

Vandenberg also discussed taping several fireworks together to make them more powerful and distributing them to others at the protests. Employees recorded his license plate and contacted law enforcement.

Federal agents tracked Vandenberg to Tucson, Arizona, and arrested him the following morning while he was sleeping in his vehicle at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The fireworks were found during a search of the vehicle.

Agents also found clothing featuring antisemitic, anti-Israel and extremist imagery, including a shirt with the Al-Qaeda flag. Vandenberg had worn a custom-made shirt bearing the word “AMALEK” at the travel center, which he told investigators meant “destroyer of Jews.”

A review of his phone found additional extremist and antisemitic content. Prosecutors said Vandenberg believed the U.S. government was controlled by Israel and Jewish people, which motivated his plan to target law enforcement officers.

Vandenberg will serve one year of supervised release after completing his prison sentence.