Two LA protesters federally charged with possessing Molotov cocktails

LOS ANGELES (CN) — At least 16 Southern Californians have been charged in relation to the recent spate of protests in Los Angeles, including four who face federal charges. Two of those federal charges were for possessing Molotov cocktails, one of which was thrown at police officers.

“When protesting crosses the line into violence, the penalties will be severe,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, a recent Trump appointee, in a written statement. “The vile attacks such as the ones alleged in these complaints could have resulted in life-altering or life-ending injuries to police officers, sheriff’s deputies and innocent bystanders."

Protests erupted over the weekend all over Southern California after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out a number of sweeps for migrant workers. Officers appeared at several Home Depots and arrested day laborers looking for work, as well as an apparel manufacturing business downtown.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members in Los Angeles in order to “address the lawlessness,” he said.

That night, a crowd gathered in the small city of Paramount, about 14 miles south of downtown LA, where ICE officers were preparing for another raid. There, protesters reportedly threw rocks at federal officers, set off fireworks and started fires. An unlawful assembly was declared.

At around 7:15 pm, according to a federal complaint filed on Tuesday, 22-year-old Emiliano Galvez “threw a Molotov cocktail over a stone wall in the direction of law enforcement personnel.” Police stopped Galvez, but did not arrest him.

Galvez was arrested two days later over “being illegally present in the United States,” prosecutors say. An investigator identified Galvez as the thrower of the makeshift explosive from photographs and videos of the incident, which showed identifiable tattoos on Galvez’s hand.

The next day, in downtown, LAPD officers say they observed another man, Wrackkie Quiogue, 27, holding a Molotov cocktail and a lighter. Police chased Quiogue down and arrested him, according to another complaint.

Both Galvez and Quiogue were charged with one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Sunday was perhaps the high watermark for community unrest, when protesters took over a freeway and set fire to a number of Waymos — autonomous taxis that can be rented with a phone app.

More than 200 people have been arrested during the protests, which have spread throughout the Southland and many other parts of the country. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a curfew in the downtown area on Tuesday night, which seemed to calm things. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom sued the Trump over the decision to send in the National Guard, which he said exceeded presidential authority.

Two other men in Orange County were also charged with assaulting a federal officer, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison. Christian Garcia, 32, is accused of throwing objects at law enforcement personnel during a protest outside a Department of Homeland Security office in Santa Ana. Rene Luna, 43, is accused of throwing water bottles and beer cans at the officers in the same protest.

At least six others have been charged with state crimes, including one man who is accused of passing out commercial grade fireworks to be thrown at police, and two people who are accused of deliberately crashing their motorcycles into a crowd of LAPD officers, in an incident that was videotaped**.**

One was charged with looting, and another was charged with vandalism for reportedly painting “profanity directed at a federal agency” on the Hall of Justice, a former courthouse that now services as headquarters for both the LA County District Attorney and Sheriff’s Department.

“The district attorney’s office will fiercely protect people’s rights to peacefully assemble and peacefully engage in First Amendment protected speech,” Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said at a press conference announcing the state charges. “If people want to hurl insults, we will protect that. If people want to engage in crimes, we will prosecute that. So hurling brakes, hurling cinder blocks, hurling fireworks, will not be tolerated in this county.”

Hochman estimated that of the thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets in the last six days, some 400 of them have “engaged in this type of illegal activity.” About 200 protesters have been arrested. Hochman warned that he would be bringing “dozens and dozens of additional cases” in the coming weeks.

“And for any individual who’s engaged in criminal conduct but did not get immediately arrested, let me provide some bad news for you,” Hochman said. “There’s a tremendous amount of video out there through social media and otherwise. We will know who you are, who engaged in this conduct, we will track you down, we will arrest you, we will prosecute you, and we will punish you.”

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