Two men charged in fire at Minneapolis bank during unrest
Editor’s note: This story was first published with a photo that included a crowd of people outside of the Wells Fargo the night the bank was set ablaze. The people charged do not appear to be in that photo. We have updated the story with the current photo. We apologize and regret the error.
Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis on Friday charged two people with arson in connection with a fire at a bank during the civil unrest that followed the police killing of George Floyd in May.
Alexander Steven Heil, 24, of Monticello, Minn., and 29-year-old Marc Bell Gonzales, of Wayzata, Minn., are each charged with conspiracy to commit arson.
Authorities say Gonzales poured gasoline on a fire at the Wells Fargo branch at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue in south Minneapolis on May 28 during the second night of rioting.
Heil is accused of accelerating the fire by tossing in a traffic cone.
Both men are charged by felony information, which indicates that plea agreements are in the works.
The two are among more than a dozen people facing federal arson charges from the recent unrest.
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