Last year, during the fallout from the 2020 election, Ian Benjamin Rogers and Jarrod Copeland allegedly hatched a plot to blow up the California state Democratic headquarters building. That wasn’t the only target they had in mind. They allegedly also planned to attack the Governor’s mansion and the headquarters of Facebook and Twitter. The plot was exposed and the pair were arrested before any actual detonations took place, thankfully. Rogers previously pleaded guilty to two lesser charges and was due to be sentenced this month on a plea deal. But now, Senior U.S. District Judge Charles E. Breyer has tossed out the bargain and ordered Rogers to undergo a psychiatric evaluation and possible treatment for mental instability before sentencing. (Associated Press)

A California man who pleaded guilty to plotting to firebomb the state Democratic Party’s headquarters and other buildings in Northern California must undergo a psychiatric examination, a judge said.

The court wants more information about the mental state of Ian Benjamin Rogers before he is sentenced, Senior U.S. District Judge Charles E. Breyer wrote in an order filed in San Francisco on Friday.

Prosecutors said Rogers and another man conspired to attack targets they associated with Democrats after former President Donald Trump’s defeat in the November 2020 presidential election, including the California governor’s mansion and buildings for social media companies Facebook and Twitter.

We’ve seen plenty of cases being prosecuted where defendants were allegedly angry over the results of the last election and acted out. Some clearly seemed to be less serious than others, but in the case of Ian Rogers, there isn’t much room for doubt. He’s never even denied that he and his partner were plotting these attacks.

He was found with explosives in his possession illegally, as well as an automatic rifle. One of the reasons that the judge gave for rejecting the plea deal was that Rogers had seemed to lack any sense of remorse whatsoever. When asked about regrets he might have, Rogers told probation officials that he only “felt bad for putting myself in a position where the government could destroy my life.”

When a judge is looking for an excuse to let someone off on a lesser charge with a lighter sentence, they’re generally expecting quite a bit more than that. But could this utter lack of remorse play in Rogers’ favor if he’s being sent for a psych evaluation? The judge certainly appears to be opening the door to such a possibility.

What’s missing in this development, at least for me, is the rationale for a psychiatric evaluation. I suppose you could argue that anyone who decides to firebomb the Democratic HQ must be a bit on the “crazy” side. But if he was planning the act in coordination with an accomplice and acquiring all of the materials to pull it off, how dysfunctional or irrational could he really be? Perhaps he’s just a very angry person who is prone to violent outbursts.

I only bring this up because this decision could potentially backfire on the judge, who clearly wants to hand down a heavier sentence. If he had simply accepted the plea bargain, Rogers would soon be on his way to prison on charges of conspiracy and possession of an explosive device. But what if the psychiatric evaluation determines that Rogers is mentally unfit to stand trial? That could throw the entire case into a tophat. And if Rogers’ attorney is on the ball, he’s probably advising his client not to try all that hard to ace the evaluation.