Protester admits helping to burn down Minneapolis police precinct where George Floyd cops worked
- Bryce Michael Williams, 26, of Staples, pleaded guilty to the arson on Thursday
- Three other men were charged with the same indictment but haven't pleaded yet
- Williams was seen holding a Molotov cocktail in front on the precinct on May 28
- Another man carried the device inside the Third Precinct building to start the fire
A protester admitted on Thursday to helping burn down the Minneapolis police precinct where the police charged with George Floyd's death worked.
According to an indictment, Bryce Michael Williams, 26, of Staples, went to the Third Precinct building on May 28 where a crowd of hundreds gathered.
At one point, the crowd began shouting, 'Burn it down, burn it down' and a fence that surrounded the building was torn down.
Bryce Michael Williams, 26, of Staples (pictured in a mugshot supplied by the DOJ) has pleaded guilty to helping to set first to a Minneapolis police precinct during George Floyd protests on May 28, three days after Floyd's death
Williams and others breached the fence, and surveillance video footage showed him holding a Molotov cocktail while others lit the wick. Another man carried the device inside and used it to light the fire.
Three other man were same with the same indictment of breaching a perimeter fence and setting the precinct ablaze. Williams, so far, is the only one to have pleaded guilty.
United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald announced the guilty plea in a news release, after Williams entered his guilty plea on Thursday before Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.
Williams was pictured on surveillance footage holding a Molotov cocktail while others lit the wick. Another man carried the device inside and used it to light the fire (pictured)
The conviction comes after Williams was initially charged on June 16 and later indicted on August 25.
The burning of the precinct - where the four officers charged in connection with George Floyd's death worked on May 25 - and dozens of other buildings led the governor to call in the National Guard to quell the unrest that followed Floyd's death.
Floyd, a Black man in handcuffs, died May 25 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on his neck. Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe.
The Minneapolis Third Police Precinct is set on fire during a third night of protests following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, on Thursday, May 28
Chauvin has been charged with murder and manslaughter. Three other officers were charged with aiding and abetting. All four of the officers worked out of the Third Precinct before they were fired.
Several others have also been charged in the precinct fire. Williams is the only one to plead guilty so far.
Last month Ivan Hunter, 26, a member of the extremist Boogaloo Bois was charged with firing 13 rounds from an AK-47 into the precinct, on the same night it was burned down by the protesters.
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