Wisconsin Man Charged with Firebombing Office
After an investigation that lasted nearly a year, there’s been an arrest in connection with the firebombing of an office in Madison, Wisconsin.
Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury was taken into custody at Boston’s Logan International Airport, before he boarded a one-way flight to Guatemala.
Roychowdhury is charged with one count of attempting to cause damage by means of fire or an explosive.
The case began shortly after the leaked draft of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. On Mother’s Day, May 8, 2022, law enforcement responded to an active fire at an office building. Law enforcement quickly noticed a broken and burned mason jar under a broken window. Opposite the wall from the window, police saw another mason jar with a blue cloth tucked into the lid. This jar was half full of a clear liquid law enforcement said smelt like an accelerant. These types of explosives are colloquially referred to as Molotov cocktails.
Outside the building was a spray-painted message reading: If abortions aren’t safe then you aren’t either” and, on another wall, a large “A” with a circle around it and the number “1312.”
While law enforcement was able to collect DNA from the scene of the attack, the case eventually went cold for several months.
In January 2023, police reviewing surveillance video of a protest against policy brutality, showed people spray painting graffiti, which “resembled the graffiti at the Wisconsin Family Action office.”
In the footage, two people were seen leaving the area in a white pickup truck, which was tracked to Roychowdhury’s home in Madison. Police subsequently named him a suspect.
In early March, police noticed that the suspect threw away some fast food in a public trash can. They tested a half-eaten burrito and it matched DNA taken from the Wisconsin Family Action office.
“Violence is never an acceptable way for anyone to express their views of their disagreement,” stated FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director Robert R. Wells.
DOJ says Roychowdhury went from Wisconsin to Maine to Boston with the intention of heading to Guatemala.
Roychowdhury faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years if convicted.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Madison Police, Wisconsin State Capitol Police, and the Dane County Sheriff’s Office took the lead on investigating the case.
Assistance was provided by the FBI Boston Filed Office, U.S. Coast Guard, the Federal Air Marshals Service (FAMS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and Massachusetts state and local law enforcement.
“This case is an example of the results law enforcement can achieve when local and federal investigators work as a team,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy O’Shea of the Western District of Wisconsin.