A 40-year-old Converse man is in federal custody after state and federal agents say they stopped a reported plan to attack the Texas Capitol on Thursday.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said it received credible information Tuesday evening that someone was planning a violent attack on the Capitol for Oct. 1. DPS special agents worked with the FBI overnight. Around 3 a.m. Wednesday, DPS SWAT arrested Benny Caldera Jr. at his home in Converse, about 15 miles northeast of downtown San Antonio. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a state felony, terroristic threat against a public servant, with bond set at $75,000.
Late Wednesday, the FBI arrested him at the jail on additional federal charges tied to the possible attack and took him into federal custody. DPS said he is not free on bond and will remain in federal custody. Jail records had listed a bond release, which fueled online claims that he had been let go. The agency called that false.
🚨UPDATE:🚨Late this evening, Benny Caldera Jr., 40, was arrested by the FBI at the Bexar Co. Jail to face additional federal charges in connection with a possible planned attack at the Texas State Capitol. Caldera Jr. was then released from the Bexar Co. Jail into federal…
— Texas DPS (@TxDPS) October 1, 2026
NBC 5 reported that an arrest-warrant affidavit says a friend told investigators Caldera had made verbal threats to assault the Capitol. The friend said Caldera told him, “I love you, if you don’t see me again,” and “I am going to the Capitol and I am going to shoot it up.” The documents also say Caldera was angry at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and said “these people have to be exterminated.” Bexar County records show a prior unlicensed-carrying charge from November 2023.
The Texas Tribune reported that an email from Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw to Capitol staff called Caldera the main suspect in a planned attack with suspected co-conspirators. A DPS statement did not name any other suspects or arrests. No legislative hearings were scheduled at the Capitol for Thursday.
DPS notified lawmakers Wednesday. The Capitol remained open during regular hours. The agency said there is no reason to believe there is an ongoing threat to the building, legislators, staff or the public, and that officers will keep a heavier presence there. Gov. Greg Abbott credited DPS and the FBI and said Texas will not tolerate threats of violence against the Capitol.
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