Texas Department of Public Safety agents and the FBI said Wednesday they stopped a planned violent attack on the Texas Capitol in Austin, arresting 40-year-old Benny Caldera Jr. at his home in Converse after receiving what DPS described as credible intelligence about a threat timed for Thursday, October 1.
DPS said its special agents worked with the FBI through the night after the tip arrived Tuesday evening. Around 3 a.m. Wednesday, DPS SWAT took Caldera into custody at his residence northeast of San Antonio. He was initially booked into the Bexar County Jail on a state felony charge of making a terroristic threat against a public servant, with bond set at $75,000, according to agency statements and local jail records cited by news outlets.
From county jail to federal custody
Late Wednesday the FBI arrested Caldera at the jail on additional federal charges connected to the possible attack and transferred him to federal custody, DPS said. The agency stressed that he was not free on bond despite online claims that he had been released, calling those reports false.
Federal charging documents were not immediately summarized in public statements reviewed by InfoHandle. DPS did not name any co-conspirators or additional arrests in its Wednesday release, though the Texas Tribune reported that an email from Secretary of the Senate Patsy Spaw to Capitol staff identified Caldera as the main figure in a planned attack and referenced suspected co-conspirators. Lawmakers were notified Wednesday while the Capitol remained open during regular business hours.
What officials told the public
DPS said there was no ongoing threat to the building, legislators, staff or visitors as of Wednesday, but that officers would maintain a heavier presence at the Capitol. Governor Greg Abbott credited DPS and the FBI in a statement and said Texas would not tolerate threats of violence against the seat of state government.
The timeline matters for workers and tourists planning to visit the pink granite complex on Thursday. No legislative hearings were scheduled at the Capitol for October 1, according to DPS, but routine access continued after the arrests. Security staff typically screen visitors at entrances; the added patrols are likely to mean longer lines at peak hours even though officials said operations were normal.
How the case is likely to proceed
State and federal prosecutors often run parallel tracks in cases that touch both terrorism statutes and state threat laws. Caldera’s state charge carries serious prison exposure if convicted, while any federal indictment could add charges tied to interstate communication or weapons, depending on what investigators document in the coming days.
Defense attorneys have not spoken publicly in accounts reviewed Wednesday. The Bexar County booking record and DPS press release will be the baseline documents for early court appearances. Investigators will also be under pressure to explain how a tip Tuesday night translated into a SWAT arrest before dawn, and whether any messaging or travel plans pointed beyond Converse.
For Austin, the episode is a reminder that state capitols remain symbolic targets even when Washington dominates national security headlines. Texas officials framed the operation as prevention; the legal process now determines whether the intelligence they acted on meets the high bar for a completed prosecution.