They are going to try and screw this guy like a tied up goat.
Sure they are. But the imagery is in place. It's all about the imagery.
The guy apparently didn't rave that he was going to
shoot people, he was looking for a
germ.
Okay, that isn't playing nice, but he didn't kill anyone, and was indiscreet to flap his lips about it, either in person or electronic form.
But they still have pictures of the guns--
ooooh! an Arse-nal.
Like I said, about average in these parts, a few handguns, a couple of shotguns, a couple/three .22s, a couple of hunting type rifles, one tactical looking, and three black rifles, a little battle rattle, but Only five ammo cans? (piker). Oh and those "deadly high capacity clips" (banned in MD, iirc, though maybe he had some sort of active duty dispensation.
That's the meme the imagery pushes,
evil, extreme right-wing domestic (Coast Guard)
terrorist with GUNS! Yeah, there's other stuff in the pile, looks like a couple of sets of body armor plates, either suppressors or flashlights, some battle rattle (load bearing vest, belt, pack, etc.) a bunch of magazines and boxed ammo.
If this guy has been hobnobbing with 'extremists' for 30 years, he's been on the radar for a while.
So why now?