Falkville man faces 17 weapons charges stemming from Capitol riots

Published 10:11 pm Tuesday, January 12, 2021

The Falkville man arrested last week after the riots at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. faces 17 weapons charges after he was indicted in federal court on Monday.

Lonnie Coffman, 70, was taken into custody last Wednesday after firearms and 11 explosive devices described as “Molotov cocktails” were found in his vehicle parked near the Capitol building.

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According to federal court documents, U.S. Capitol Police officers, who were sweeping the area around the Capitol after finding possible explosive devices, saw a handgun in the front seat of a red GMC Sierra pickup, and a database check of the vehicle found that it was registered to Coffman.

One black handgun was recovered from the right front passenger seat of the vehicle. After locating the black handgun, officers proceeded to search the rest of the pickup truck, including the bed of the ruck, which was secured under a fabric top. During the search of the cab of the truck, officers recovered, among other things, one M4 Carbine assault rifle along with rifle magazines loaded with ammunition.

In addition, officers recovered the following items in the bed of the pickup truck in close proximity to one another: 11 mason jars containing a mixture of “homemade napalm” with a golf tee in the top of each jar, cloth rags and lighters.

Coffman later approached officers while searching for his vehicle, and after being questioned about the weapons and explosives in his truck, the officers found two more handguns on his person while taking him into custody.

Coffman is charged with one count of possession of an unregistered firearm for the 11 Molotov cocktails, three counts of carrying a pistol without a license and three counts of possession of an unregistered firearm for having a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun, a .22 caliber North American Arms revolver and a 9mm Hi-Point handgun.

He also faces two charges of carrying a rifle or shotgun outside home or place of businesses and two charges of possession of an unregistered firearm for having a Windham Weaponry rifle and a Hatfield Gun Company SAS shotgun.

He also faces one charge of possessing a large capacity ammunition feeding device, and five charges of unlawful possession of ammunition for having .22 caliber rounds, 9mm rounds, 5.56mm rounds, .223 caliber rounds and shotgun shells.

Coffman’s grandson, Brandon Coffman, told the Associated Press on Friday his grandfather was a Republican who had expressed admiration for Trump at holiday gatherings. He said he had no idea why Coffman would show up in the nation’s capital armed for civil war.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.