Federal grand jury indicts four men on arson charges in Minneapolis police precinct fire

A federal grand jury has indicted four men on arson charges in connection to the burning of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct building at the end of May amid protests over the death of George Floyd.

The indictment against Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, Davon De-Andre Turner, Bryce Michael Williams and Branden Michael Wolfe was announced Tuesday by U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald.

Each of the four men, who are all residents of Minnesota, face one count of conspiracy to commit arson for their alleged actions on May 28, three days after Floyd, a Black man, was killed near the third precinct.

The Justice Department said in a news release that on the night of May 28, Turner, Robinson, Williams and Wolfe, “along with unidentified other co-conspirators, breached the fence and entered the Third Precinct building.”

On that night, hundreds of demonstrators had convened in the area of the police building to protest Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody.

According to the indictment, Robinson and an unidentified person allegedly “lit an incendiary device,” which was then thrown into the precinct by the other person.

Williams and Turner allegedly “lit a Molotov cocktail,” while Wolfe allegedly “pushed a barrel into a fire at the entrance of the Third Precinct building to accelerate an existing fire.”

The men will be arraigned at a later date, the Justice Department stated in the statement.