Ex-Hill AFB airman pleads guilty to Salt Lake City riot charge
Five people, including a Hill Air Force Base airman later discharged from the service, were charged in the destriction of a Salt Lake City police car during civil rights protests May 30, 2020.
SALT LAKE CITY — A former Hill Air Force Base airman has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge for his role in the destruction of a Salt Lake City police car during a 2020 civil rights protest.
Larry Raynold Williams Jr. faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 31 by U.S. District Judge David Barlow. Williams, represented by a federal public defender, agreed to the reduced charge of civil disorder in June. The original arson charge carried a penalty of five to 20 years in prison.
Williams, who lived in West Haven at the time, and four Salt Lake City residents were charged after rioters flipped over a police cruiser and set it on fire May 30, 2020. The rioting grew out of protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In charging documents, prosecutors presented visual evidence they said showed suspects lighting burning materials and putting them inside the car. They showed a surveillance photo of Williams in the crowd before the arson. Williams wore a Hill gas mask during the car lighting, they said.
Williams was discharged by the Air Force on Feb. 23 this year “due to the pending federal matter,” according to a U.S. Pretrial Services letter filed in court.
Williams is free from custody pending sentencing.
Three of the other suspects have taken similar plea bargains, and the fifth is now considering a plea offer, according to court records.
