Feds charge 8 in Pittsburgh protests that turned violent – TribLIVE

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A federal grand jury indicted eight people in connection with alleged damage and vandalism during protests May 30 in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Most of those indicted were in some way connected to the destruction of a two Pittsburgh Bureau of Police cruisers that were set ablaze during protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody days prior.

The indictment was returned July 22 and unsealed Wednesday.

Those indicted are:

George Allen, 31; Nicholas Lucia, 25; Raekown Blankenship, 24; Devin Montgomery, 24; Brandon Benson, 29; and Christopher West, 35, all of whom live in Pittsburgh. DaJon Lengyel, 22, of McKees Rocks, and Andrew Augustyniak-Duncan, 25, of Carnegie, also were indicated.

The protests through Downtown carried on peacefully for much of the afternoon but turned violent after several people began damaging a marked police SUV. The marked SUV and an unmarked commanders SUV were eventually set on fire.

Throwing IEDs and bricks at police officers, throwing projectiles at and striking police horses, and setting police cruisers on fire are not the protected First Amendment activities of a peaceful protest; they are criminal acts that violate federal law, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said in a statement.

He called those accused of sparking the violence agitators who hijacked a lawful protest and undermined a message of equality with one of destruction.

Michael Christman, Special Agent in Charge of the FBIs Pittsburgh office, vowed to continue making arrests when demonstrators spark violence. We are not done. We continue to use all of our investigative resources to find each person who chose to start a violent confrontation, he said.

Forty-six people were arrested May 30 in connection with the protest. District Attorney Stephen A. Zappalas office dropped charges against 39 of them.

Two days later, dozens were arrested during a protest in Pittsburghs East Liberty neighborhood, which had carried on peacefully for hours before the events turned violent. Zappala went on to drop charges against 22 who were arrested in that melee.

The lawlessness we saw on May 30 cannot be tolerated, said Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich.

All of those named in the indictment also face state charges.

Allen is alleged to have thrown something through the window of a police cruiser, leading to charges of interfering with law enforcement. Blankenship, Lengyel, Montgomery and West face a similar charge for their alleged roles in kicking, punching and setting fire to the cruiser.

Augustyniak-Duncan is charged with interfering with law enforcement for allegedly throwing things at officers, and Lucia is accused of throwing a homemade explosive device at an officer that bounced off his vest and exploded on the ground. Benson and Montgomery are alleged to have tried to break into the Dollar Bank on Smithfield Street.

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Categories:Downtown Pittsburgh | Local | Allegheny | Top Stories

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