A New Jersey man was sentenced Sept. 28 to nearly six years in prison for threatening last year to detonate “grenades" and "rockets" outside of St. Matthew’s Cathedral just hours before the start of the 2025 annual Red Mass.
Louis Geri, 42, of Vineland, New Jersey was sentenced to 70 months confinement in a federal prison followed by an additional three years of probation for “extortion by wrongful use of force, violence, or fear, and to a count of possession of an unregistered (destructive device).”
He was arrested Oct. 5, 2025, outside of the cathedral just hours before the start of the annual Mass that is traditionally attended by high profile government officials, including Supreme Court justices, Cabinet officials, and members of Congress and the diplomatic corps. The start of last year’s Mass was delayed because of the incident, but went on as planned.
At the time of his arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, Geri had a tent he set up outside of the cathedral with more than 100 explosive devices “he admitted that he intended to use … to harm people and property – including St. Matthew's Cathedral, the White House, the Washington Monument, the U.S. Capitol, and the Supreme Court,” if a nine-page list of written demands he had were not met.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Geri's demands included hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to himself and others, accommodations at the Mayflower Hotel, a flight to Japan, and various other “demands directed at leaders of the Catholic and Jewish faiths.”
Geri had expressed hostility and disdain for the Supreme Court, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Catholic Church and Jewish people.
After being apprehended by agents from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metropolitan Police Department's Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Arson Task Force, it was discovered that Geri had handmade grenades, bottle rockets, Molotov cocktails, and vials of nitromethane, the compound used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Geri told police he purchased the materials to make the devices in Arkansas before building them in Virginia.
In March of this year, he pleaded guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court. In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Randolph Moss noted Geri's history of “very serious mental health issues,” but noted “this was an extremely serious offense … the threat of violence was a serious one.”
After the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro said Geri “chose to terrorize a sacred space, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, and endanger officers and parishioners.” She said the sentence “reflects the seriousness of his conduct.”
The Red Mass is offered each year on the Sunday before the first Monday in October to mark the opening of the Supreme Court’s term and to invoke God’s blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice as well as on all public officials.
This year’s Red Mass will be offered on Sunday, Oct. 4. Washington Cardinal Robert W, McElroy will be the principal celebrant and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA will give the homily.
