Texas man sentenced for trying to blow up Confederate statue

HOUSTON – A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for attempting to blow up a Confederate statue last summer at a Houston park.

A federal judge on Friday also imposed a $10,000 fine against Andrew Schneck, who pleaded guilty in March to attempting to maliciously damage property receiving federal financial assistance.

Schneck was caught last August near a statue of Richard Dowling, a lieutenant in the Confederate army whose unit defeated a Union invasion force at the Battle of Sabine (suh-BEEN’) Pass in 1863.

Schneck was found holding two boxes with duct tape and wires as well as a bottle and a small tube containing compounds that tests later revealed were explosive materials.

The incident happened amid a wave of protests over Confederate monuments across the U.S.