Washington state woman sentenced to prison for setting 5 Seattle police vehicles on fire during 2020 protest

A Washington state lady was sentenced to 5 years in jail Tuesday for setting almost a half dozen police autos on fireplace throughout protests in downtown Seattle in 2020.

Margaret Aislinn Channon, 26, from Tacoma, was captured on video utilizing fireplace and aerosol cans to gentle 5 Seattle police autos on fireplace throughout a Might 30 protest – following the loss of life of George Floyd, in line with a information launch from the Division of Justice. 

U.S. District Decide John C. Coughenour mentioned her actions did “super injury to Black Lives Matter in Seattle.”

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“The fitting to protest, collect, and name out injustices is likely one of the dearest and most vital rights we take pleasure in in america,” added U.S. Legal professional Nick Brown. “Certainly, our democracy relies on each exercising and defending these rights. However Ms. Channon’s conduct was itself an assault on democracy. She used the quilt of lawful protests to hold out harmful and harmful acts, risking the protection of everybody round her and undermining the vital messages voiced by others.”

Of their sentencing memo, prosecutors famous that a whole bunch of individuals had been standing within the neighborhood the place the police vehicles had been burned, and a few individuals had been “just a few toes away.”

Protesters reveal exterior the Seattle Police Division’s East Precinct after the constructing was boarded up and vacated and folks proceed rally towards racial inequality and the loss of life in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Seattle, June 8, 2020. 
(Reuters)

“All of them had been in hurt’s approach if one of many autos had exploded,” the memo acknowledged. 

Video additionally captured Channon getting into varied shops and stealing clothes, prosecutors mentioned. Channon admitted to smashing the window on the Verizon Retailer and destroying the digital money register at a sandwich store, in line with the discharge. 

Investigators recognized Channon primarily based on her clothes, tattoos, and data from her social media accounts. 

Kelly Thomas Jackson, 20, allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at two Seattle police autos throughout a Might 30 protests that devolved right into a riot.
(Division of Justice)

She was arrested on June 11, 2020, following an investigation by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the Seattle Police Division. 

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“It needs to be clear that lawful protests don’t embrace using violent actions corresponding to breaking retailer home windows and committing theft and arson,” mentioned ATF Seattle Area Division Particular Agent in Cost Jonathan T. McPherson. 

Channon pleaded responsible to arson final September.

In a letter to the court docket, Channon apologized for her actions, in line with the Tacoma Information Tribune

“Black Lives Matter is a corporation with management that doesn’t condone criminality,” Channon wrote. “I apologize to the numerous staff and activists – who’ve given a long time of their lives to constructing a countermeasure to police violence — that didn’t need to see fireplace in June of 2020.”

Channon is accountable for restitution and can be on three years of supervised launch following her jail time period, the discharge acknowledged.