Man arrested and charged with possessing explosives ahead of church service marking start of Supreme Court term

UPDATED 14 HR AGO
UPDATED OCT 5, 2025, 4:21 PM ET
PUBLISHED OCT 5, 2025, 2:29 PM ET
By Alison Main


The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle is seen in Washington, DC, on February 22, 2023. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/File

Police arrested and charged a man with possession of explosives Sunday outside a Washington, DC, church where an annual Mass to mark the start of the Supreme Court term was set to take place hours later.

The so-called Red Mass is held each year to “invoke God’s blessings on those responsible for the administration of justice,” according to St. Matthew’s Cathedral. A spokesperson for the Supreme Court told CNN that no justices were in attendance on Sunday, though members of the high court have previously gone to the mass. The Supreme Court’s new term begins on Monday.

The DC Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that the suspect, Louis Geri, a 41-year-old from Vineland, New Jersey, faces preliminary charges of unlawful entry, threats to kidnap or injure a person and possession of a Molotov cocktail.

Officers assigned to protect the event approached Geri, who had set up a tent on the steps of the cathedral, just before 6 a.m. They arrested Geri after he refused to vacate, though he had been previously barred from the premises, per MPD.

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