A Sand Lake man faces up to 42 years in prison after police allege he threatened them with explosives at a Michigan Trump rally, then drove through a checkpoint.
Steven William Nauta, 65, was arraigned in Grandville District Court on Monday on four felony courts over the incident on Friday near a Trump rally in Walker.
The charges include false report or threat of terrorism, possession of explosives with unlawful intent, fleeing police in the third degree, and resisting or obstructing a police officer. The most serious charge, threat of terrorism, comes with a potential 20 year prison sentence, Grandville District Court Judge Nicolas Christensen told Nauta on Monday.
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
A copy of Nauta’s criminal complaint obtained by CNN alleges Nauta “approached a traffic point at a highly populated political rally and was denied entrance.
“Steven confessed that he then held up a bottle to police and stated that it was ‘C4’ explosive and that it was the ‘real deal,” the complaint read. “Steven also confessed that he then sped past the traffic point in a 35 mph zone, disobeying the officer’s command to stop.”
Officers pursued Nauta in marked cruisers, lights flashing, and he initially refused to stop, police said.
“When Steven finally stopped, he removed bags of fertilizer from his vehicle and threw them on the ground to make it appear that they were explosives while disobeying officers commands,” according to the complaint. “Steven was ordered to the ground and again failed to comply with officer’s commands to remain on the ground. Steven said that he intended to make officers, and others, believe he had explosives.”
Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial
Walker Police posted to Facebook that “the driver never made it into the parking area of the business that was hosting the event” and “after a Bomb Team checked the vehicle, no true device was located.”
About 1,500 people attended the Friday rally at FALK Production, a metal panel manufacturer in Walker, MLive reports.
Nauta looked down in his Kent County Jail cell throughout his virtual arraignment on Monday, though he flashed peace signs and double middle fingers to the camera as he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“These are pretty significant charges, especially counts one and two,” Christensen told Nauta, who stripped off his shirt as the judge set bond at $1 million.
“Given my situation, I think I’m better off just staying here,” Nauta said. “It’s a very cruel world out there, probably a lot better off here.”
Nauta’s arraignment attorney told the court he has not faced a criminal charge since a marijuana charge in the early 2000s, he’s retired, and lives on social security. Nauta, who is divorced with adult children, lives alone in Sand Lake, she said in an arraignment video posted by WZZM.
Nauta is scheduled for a probable cause conference on Oct. 8, and a hearing on Oct. 15.
If convicted of all charges, Nauta could face up to 42 years in prison and more than $30,000 in fines, WXMI reports.
Nauta’s arraignment came the same day Ryan Wesley Routh pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted assassination, gun offenses and assaulting an officer in federal court over an alleged attempt to kill former President Donald Trump at his West Palm Beach golf course on Sept. 15, according to CNN.
Police allege Routh was armed with a Soviet-designed rifle and had a clear shot of the 6th hole green when Trump was golfing, before he was spotted by a Secret Service agent.
In July, Thomas Matthew Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, shooting the 45th POTUS in the ear and killing two others. A Secret Service counter sniper team killed Crooks immediately after Trump was shot.