Skip to content

Self-Identified Anarchist Pleads Guilty to Destroying Police Car During George Floyd Protests

Bloomberg Effort Raises $20 Million to Pay Fines for Florida Felons So They Can Vote

An effort bolstered by support from billionaire Michael Bloomberg has raised over $20 million to pay off fines for Florida felons, enabling them to vote in the upcoming presidential election. Bloomberg, NBA star LeBron James, and singer John Legend were among those helping raise funds for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition with an October 5 voter registration deadline looming. The effort drew contributions from more than 44,000 people and eclipsed the $20 million milestone, the coalition announced Tuesday. “The right to vote is fundamental to our democracy and no American should be denied that right,” Bloomberg, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said in a statement. “Working together with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, we are determined to end disenfranchisement and the discrimination that has always driven it.” “The ability to vote…

Self-Identified Anarchist Pleads Guilty to Destroying Police Car During George Floyd Protests

A Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder for damaging then setting a police car on fire during protests over George Floyd’s death back in May.

Brian Jordan Bartels, 20, surrendered to police in June after he was captured on video damaging a police car during protests in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on May 30. He had been accused of spray painting the marked police SUV with the letter “A” and smashing its windshield, federal prosecutors said.

Bartels was captured on video—wearing black clothing and a black facial covering with an anarchist symbol emblazoned across it—smashing windows of a police van during a protest that had been peaceful. Prosecutors said some people in the crowd began cheering him on, with some people joined in with damaging the car. At one point, Bartels jumped off the hood and attempted to break the passenger side window of the car.

“As Bartels continued his destruction the crowd fought back against him less and more people began to join him in damaging the car,” according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Epoch Times.

During an interview with investigators, Bartel admitted to his criminal acts and expressed remorse. He was charged with a federal offense and indicted by a grand jury, prosecutors said.

“On May 30, 2020, Brian Bartels incited the largest and most destructive riot in Pittsburgh history since 1968,” U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady said in a statement. “Armed with his homemade agitator toolkit, this self-identified extreme left-wing anarchist came to the protest in downtown Pittsburgh that day with one goal: to incite violence.”

“Bartels succeeded—he was the first to incite violence during the protest. While protesters yelled for him to stop, Bartels spray painted and then smashed and jumped on the windshield of a Pittsburgh Police cruiser. Others then joined in and the cruiser was set on fire and destroyed,” he added.

Brady said that Bartel’s actions represented “the inflection point” during the protests, which he said went from peaceful to lawless.

“Ultimately, Pittsburgh police cars were burned. Mounted Pittsburgh Police Officers were attacked. Projectiles were thrown at Pittsburgh Police Officers. Reporters were attacked and their camera destroyed. What started as a peaceful demonstration, turned into a violent evening of destruction and looting throughout downtown Pittsburgh,” Brady said.

Bartel is scheduled to be sentenced in January next year. He could face up to a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

In the wake of Floyd’s death, people took the streets across the nation to protest against police brutality and called for a reform in policing and the use of excessive force policies. Officials say that while many of the demonstrations were peaceful, some cities such as Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, saw violent rioting and looting that caused widespread property damage, injuries, as well as deaths.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

Follow Janita on Twitter: @janitakan

Focus News: Self-Identified Anarchist Pleads Guilty to Destroying Police Car During George Floyd Protests

US Execution Planned of Killer Who Said Witchcraft Drove Him

CHICAGO—A former U.S. soldier who said an obsession with witchcraft led him to slay a Georgia nurse in a bid to lift a spell he believed she put on him is the first of two more inmates the federal government is preparing to put to death this week. William Emmett LeCroy, 50, on Tuesday would be the sixth federal inmate executed by lethal injection this year at the U.S. prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Another is scheduled for Thursday of Christopher Vialva, who would be the first African-American on federal death row to be executed this year. LeCroy is white, as were four of the five inmates executed earlier. The fifth was a Navajo. Critics say President Donald Trump’s resumption of federal executions this year after a 17-year hiatus is…