An aggrieved “coward” wearing an American flag bandana who threw a Molotov cocktail into a Democratic Party office in Austin was arrested Friday, according to jail records.
Ryan Faircloth faces federal charges of arson and attempted arson for the caught-on-camera crime, court documents show. The Travis County Democratic Party headquarters was empty when Faircloth, 30, allegedly hurled the poor man’s grenade at about 2 a.m. Wednesday, according to officials.
Papers caught fire and the blaze was quickly extinguished by people who worked at a nearby business, they said. Investigators found Faircloth via social media.
Austin Fire arson investigator Capt. Jeffrey Deane determined that the attack was politically motivated.
“This person was not happy with the current political climate,” Deane said Friday. “He blamed this office and who they represent for a lot of the issues that he saw as problems with the country.
“He was forthcoming and confessed to that.”
According to an FBI criminal complaint, Faircloth used a wine bottle, gasoline, and a sock to build the Molotov cocktail.
Travis County Democratic Party Chairwoman Katie Naranjo labeled the perpetrator a “coward.”
“Anyone who wears an American flag as a bandana and then throws a Molotov cocktail … into a building and leaves a note, a threatening note, is a coward,” she previously said.
Authorities said in court documents that the accused attacker left a note at the office that mentioned Democratic part-led states and a cities, then wrote, “One thing you can’t have is Texas,” and “Consider this a ‘light’ warning,” a photograph in the document revealed.
With Post wires
