Two Men Plead Guilty to Arson in Minneapolis Unrest

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Two men have pleaded guilty to federal arson charges in connection with fires that were set inside the Target corporate headquarters during unrest that followed rumors of a police shooting in downtown Minneapolis last August.

The unrest began after a Black man who was a suspect in a homicide fatally shot himself as police were closing in. In the city still reeling from the death of George Floyd, rumors of a police shooting circulated and demonstrators went downtown to protest.

Twenty-four-year-old Shador Tommie Cortez Jackson of Richfield and 34-year-old Leroy Lemonte Perry Williams of Minneapolis both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson.