Updated at 1:05 p.m.
A 35-year-old man has been federally charged in the arson that damaged Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Burlington office on Friday.
Shant Soghomonian, who authorities said is also known as Michael Soghomonian, was arrested Sunday on a charge of using fire to damage a building used in interstate commerce, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont.
Security video recordings showed Soghomonian “spraying a liquid near the outer door” of Sanders’ third-floor office at One Church Street in the city’s downtown, “and then lighting the area with a handheld lighter,” according to the release.
“A blaze quickly began while Soghomonian departed via a staircase,” authorities wrote.
Several staff members were inside the office and the fire briefly blocked their exit, “endangering their lives,” Burlington police have previously said. Sanders was not at the office at the time of the fire.
An initial court date for Soghomonian has not been set.
Soghomonian previously lived in Northridge, California, according to the release.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
In a written statement Sunday afternoon, Sanders expressed appreciation to those who responded to Friday’s incident.
“I am deeply grateful to the swift, professional, coordinated efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement in response to the fire at my Vermont office on Friday,” he said. “I am also thankful that none of the many people who were in the office building at the time of the fire were injured.”
Sanders thanked those who had reached out to support him and his staff and said his office would “continue to serve Vermonters during these challenging times.”
