Hill airman charged in arson of Salt Lake police car during May 30 protests
A Salt Lake City police car burns during protests May 30, 2020.
The FBI provided this photo saying it shows a Hill Air Force Base airman, in gas mask at left, helping to destroy a Salt Lake City police car during protests May 30, 2020.
WEST HAVEN — The FBI arrested a Hill Air Force Base airman at his home in West Haven on Wednesday on accusations that he helped destroy a police car during protests in Salt Lake City.
An indictment in U.S. District Court charged Larry Raynold Williams Jr., 22, with arson in the destruction of a patrol car during protests May 30.
Williams is the fifth person to be charged in the arson case, the FBI said Wednesday afternoon in a press release.
The arrest was made by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. The investigation was helped by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Hill, the release said.
During the riot, a Salt Lake City police officer’s car was boxed in by surrounding protesters and she fled the car, fearing for her safety, according to the indictment.
Video footage showed people using fire and explosives to destroy the car.
The FBI said it identified Williams on video from the incident.
Another protester lit some fabric on fire and Williams allegedly threw the burning material into the car, the indictment alleged.
The protester on the video was wearing a gas mask, and the FBI said it tracked the protective gear seen on the video to a lot issued to airmen at Hill.
According to the complaint, serial and lot numbers were documented for each inventoried item. The lot number for one of the canisters assigned to Williams was identical to the number observed on the gas mask as depicted in pictures taken at the riot, the indictment said.
The FBI said Williams also was seen without a mask during the protests.
Williams is due in court Thursday afternoon.
As of Wednesday afternoon, he had no attorney of record.
Court records show the case was filed Monday and ordered unsealed by a judge Wednesday.
Four other people, all of Salt Lake City, were charged with arson in a consolidated indictment July 23 in U.S. District Court.
The Salt Lake protests were among a wave of outpourings around the country over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis earlier that week.
Floyd, who was Black, was held on the pavement under the knee of a white police officer. The officer is charged with murder.