Federal grand jury indicts four Minnesota men on arson charges for Third Precinct fire

Charges outline efforts to burn down Minneapolis police station as unrest raged over George Floyd's killing.

August 26, 2020 at 3:23AM
The Minneapolis Third Police Precinct is set on fire during a third night of protests following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, on Thursday, May 28, 2020. (Carlos Gonzalez/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1674865
The Minneapolis Third Police Precinct station was set on fire in late May during a third night of protests following the killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

A federal grand jury on Tuesday handed up an indictment charging four Minnesota men with conspiring to set fire to the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct in the civil unrest that followed the May 25 police killing of George Floyd.

All but one had previously been charged by prosecutors before the new charges were announced on Tuesday in an indictment, which is a more formal mechanism required before the defendants can go to trial. The indictment alleges that they worked with additional unidentified co-conspirators to set fire to the police precinct in south Minneapolis.

The three-page indictment charged one count each of conspiracy to commit arson against Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, 22, of Brainerd; Davon De-Andre Turner, 24, of St. Paul; Bryce Michael Williams, 26, of Staples; and Branden Michael Wolfe, 23, of St. Paul. According to charges, as a crowd of hundreds gathered outside the Third Precinct on May 28, the four men and others breached a fence and entered the building.

Robinson and a still unidentified co-conspirator allegedly ignited an incendiary device and tossed it toward the building. Williams and Turner, helped by another unidentified person, are accused of lighting a Molotov cocktail that the indictment said Turner took into the building and used to start a fire. Wolfe, meanwhile, is accused of pushing a barrel into a fire that had been set at the entrance to the building.

Robinson and Wolfe were previously charged in a federal criminal complaint with aiding and abetting arson and Williams had been charged with conspiracy to commit arson before Tuesday's indictment linked their cases.

Tips related to the Third Precinct or business fires can be called in to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at 1-888-ATF-TIPS, e-mailed to ATFTips@atf.gov or sent in anonymously through ReportIt.com. The FBI is collecting information on people who may have incited or promoted violence via 1-800-CALLFBI line or at FBI.gov/violence.

The burned out Third Precinct at the corner of E Lake St. and Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis, was abandoned by police at the height of rioting after the murder of George Floyd. ] GLEN STUBBE • glen.stubbe@startribune.com Thursday, July 16, 2020
The burned-out Third Precinct police station at the corner of E Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue, shown in July, (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The Minneapolis Third Police Precinct was set on fire during a third night of protests following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, on May 28, 2020.
The Minneapolis Third Police Precinct is set on fire during a third night of protests following the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, on Thursday, May 28, 2020. Dylan Shakespeare Robinson, 23, is one of those charged in connection with the 3rd Precinct building fire. (Carlos Gonzalez/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1692071 (Star Tribune file/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
about the writer

about the writer

Stephen Montemayor

Reporter

Stephen Montemayor covers federal courts and law enforcement. He previously covered Minnesota politics and government.

See More

More from Minneapolis

card image

From small businesses to giants like Target, retailers are benefitting from the $10 billion industry for South Korean pop music, including its revival of physical album sales.