Firebombing Of the Republican Office: Palm Desert Man Charged

Carlos Espriu was arrested in connection with the May 31 firebombing of the East Valley Republican Women Federated office in La Quinta.

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA — A Palm Desert man accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail into a Republican group’s office in the Coachella Valley was charged Thursday with arson and other offenses in federal court and by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Republican Women Federated President Joy Miedecke previously told City News Service that surveillance footage showed a man set the fire after breaking the windows with a baseball bat. She also said her organization had offered a reward for his capture.

Tips generated from the reward offer apparently helped authorities identify Espriu as the suspect.

Espriu posted on Twitter sometime before the firebombing: “I wanna go burn shit n get hit with tear gas,” according to federal prosecutors.

He has no documented felony convictions in Riverside County.

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