Souverneva

BACKGROUND

We draw the following facts from the preliminary hearing testimony. On September 22, 2021, CAL FIRE Fire Captain Dennis Boic responded to a vegetation fire in a rural and remote area of Shasta County. There was a main fire, later called the Fawn Fire, and five separate, small fires. The small fires were in a line. Boic saw Souverneva walking uphill near the top of the ridge between two of the small fires. Souverneva waved her hands and fell to the ground. She had a deer antler in one hand and her sandals in another. Her face and hair were dirty and she appeared to be in distress. Responding to Boic’s questions, Souverneva said she was hiking alone to Canada. She showed Boic a small CO2 cartridge that she said was a bomb. She said fires were good for the environment because they help trees grow. Souverneva subsequently told firefighters that a device she had was a bomb but she made it safe by transferring its energy to the ground. In her pockets Souverneva had small CO2 containers, a pink-and-white device she described as an “incendiary device,” batteries, a deer antler, and a functioning lighter. The CO2 containers in Souverneva’s pockets matched CO2 containers found…