Man accused of lighting fire outside Bernie Sanders’ office had past brushes with the law

The man accused of starting a fire outside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Vermont office a week ago has had past brushes with the law involving guns and a history of traveling from place to place, prosecutors say in court filings arguing that he should remain detained.

Security video shows Shant Michael Soghomonian throwing liquid at the bottom of a door opening into Sanders’ third-floor office in Burlington and setting it on fire with a lighter last Friday, according to an affidavit filed by a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Seven employees working in the office at the time were unharmed and able to evacuate. The building’s interior suffered some damage from the fire and water sprinklers. Sanders, an independent, was not in the office at the time.

Soghomonian, 35, who was previously from Northridge, California, had been staying at a South Burlington hotel for nearly two months and was spotted outside Sanders’ office the day before and the day of the fire, according to the special agent’s report.

He is facing a charge of maliciously damaging by means of fire a building used in interstate commerce and as a place of activity affecting interstate commerce. Soghomonian is currently in custody. He was scheduled for a detention hearing on Thursday but it was postponed until next week. The Associated Press left a telephone message seeking comment with his public defender.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> A man accused of setting a