D.C. police said they arrested and charged a man who had a Molotov cocktail while camping in front of a Northwest church set to celebrate its Red Mass, a special service to mark the beginning of the new Supreme Court term.

Metropolitan Police said they took Louis Geri, 41, of Vineland, New Jersey, into custody on charges of unlawful entry, threats to kidnap or injure a person, and possession of a Molotov cocktail Sunday outside of St. Matthew’s Cathedral on Rhode Island Avenue in Northwest.

Authorities said officers, who were already assigned to the church to work security, first noticed Mr. Geri’s tent on the cathedral’s steps around 6 a.m. Sunday. 

Police said Mr. Geri had been previously banned from being on church grounds but did not elaborate on the reason. Officers asked him to leave, but he refused and was arrested.

After discovering vials of liquid and possible fireworks inside his tent, the Metropolitan Police’s Explosive Ordnance team investigated his belongings and discovered the suspected Molotov cocktail.

Mr. Geri’s arrest comes two days after California man Nicholas Roske was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for his failed attempt to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in 2022.

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Police did not say whether there were any Supreme Court justices in attendance for St. Matthew’s Red Mass on Sunday.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.