2 more plead guilty to arson charges in connection with Minneapolis 3rd Precinct fire
Two more men have pleaded guilty to federal arson charges for their roles in a fire that damaged a Minneapolis police station during civil unrest in the days following the death of George Floyd, prosecutors announced.
Davon De-Andre Turner, 25, and Branden Michael Wolfe, 23, both of St. Paul, have each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson. Turner pleaded guilty Friday and Wolfe pleaded guilty last month.
According to court documents, the two men went separately to the 3rd Precinct station on May 28 where hundreds of others had gathered.
According to court documents, Turner and a man worked to light a device with the intent of accelerating a fire, then Turner took it into the police station and used it to start a fire. Prosecutors say Wolfe pushed a barrel into a fire at the building's entrance with the goal of accelerating flames.
Two other men, Bryce Michael Williams Williams and Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, have also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson. The four men will be sentenced separately in March, April and May.
The burning of the precinct 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.
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