BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTOR SENTENCED TO JAIL FOR SETTING POLICE CAR ON FIRE IN NORTH CAROLINA

 A Raleigh, North Carolina, man was sentenced to dozens of months in jail for trying to set fire to a police car during the protest about the death of George Floyd.

The incident happened on May 31, 2020, when his fingerprints were found on a bottle that smelled like gasoline located near the fire.

Jabari Devon Davis was arrested by special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives on one count of attempting to damage or destroy by fire a vehicle owned or possessed by an institution receiving federal financial assistance. 

At 12:31 a.m. on the morning after the protest, a fire was found, coming from the fuel filler area of a Raleigh Police department cruiser, which was parked by a police station.

The fire was discovered and extinguished by a Raleigh Police Department captain, who was driving through the parking lot before the fire department’s arrived.

The fire caused approximately $5,000 worth of damage to the police vehicle.

 Investigators found a charred sock within the fuel filler of the vehicle, another charred sock between the vehicle and the sidewalk, and a bottle with the smell of gasoline on the sidewalk.

A fingerprint that was lifted off of the bottle belonged to Davis.

When Davis was interviewed at his residence, he admitted to intentionally setting the vehicle on fire. 

He said that, after leaving the protest, he and a friend traveled to the site, where he got a bottle of gasoline and poured a small amount of gasoline on the sock and put another sock into the mouth of the bottle.

He then placed the gasoline-soaked sock into the fuel filler of the police vehicle and set it on fire.

As he ran backward, he set the bottle with the sock on fire and threw it towards several police vehicles. However, when he threw it, the burning sock fell out, catching the grass and straw on fire.

 The death of George Floyd has sparked protests across the country, as well as a call for racial equality and police accountability. Numerous police and other property was destroyed in the events and thousands were arrested.