A boastful rioter protesting the death of George Floyd last summer in Minneapolis has been sentenced to nearly nine years behind bars for handing out explosives and setting a store on fire.
“Matthew Rupert, 29, of Galesburg, Ill., has been sentenced to nearly 9 years in federal prison after being convicted for his role in the Minneapolis BLM-Antifa riots last year,” Andy Ngo reported Tuesday. “He handed out explosives & set a store on fire.”
According to Ngo, Rupert’s sentence is the longest thus far for those involved in the left-wing Black Lives Matter/Antifa riots.
“Convicted #BLM arsonist Matthew Lee Rupert drove more than 400 miles from Illinois to riot in Minneapolis on 28 May, 2020,” Ngo added. “In addition to handing out shell explosives to rioters, he doused lighter fluid over a pile of boxes inside a store & set it on fire.”
Convicted #BLM arsonist Matthew Lee Rupert drove more than 400 miles from Illinois to riot in Minneapolis on 28 May, 2020. In addition to handing out shell explosives to rioters, he doused lighter fluid over a pile of boxes inside a store & set it on fire. https://t.co/VxqpeCeynR
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 10, 2021
“Matthew Rupert chose to drive more than 400 miles from his home in Illinois to Minnesota to engage in violence and destruction, all while broadcasting it for the world to see. Peaceful protest was not on his agenda,” outlined acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk. “Arson, looting, property damage, and the glorification of it, will not be tolerated. Today, justice has caught up with Mr. Rupert as he must now account for his crimes.”
Michael Paul, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office, called Rupert “yet another violent offender … held to account for his reckless and deliberate damage to our community.”
“Mr. Rupert made his way to Minneapolis for the express purpose of instigating lawless behavior on our local streets,” Paul said in a statement. “He demonstrated no purpose other than endangering peaceful protests by actively encouraging violence against law enforcement and personally destroying community businesses. Together with our local partners, FBI Minneapolis and ATF St. Paul continue to hold indifferent criminals like Mr. Rupert accountable for their dangerous and divisive criminal conduct in the Twin Cities.”
According to court documents, Rupert “entered a boarded-up Sprint store and ordered others to pile boxes on the ground before dousing them with lighter fluid and setting them on fire, causing extensive damage,” Fox News reported.
The criminal live-streamed his actions via social media and publicly boasted about going to Minneapolis to “riot.”
“I lit it on fire!” Rupert reportedly yelled as he ran away from the store.
“We come to riot, boy!” he’s heard exclaiming via livestream. “I’ve got some bombs if some of you all want to throw them back.”
Last month, 26-year-old Minnesota man Montez T. Lee Jr. admitted to setting a local pawnshop ablaze while rioting last May to protest the death of Floyd.
A 30-year-old man was later found inside the burned-down shop, though Lee is claiming through his defense team that he’s not responsible for the death.
“Prosecutors are contending that federal sentencing guidelines call for Lee to receive a prison term ranging from 17½ to 20 years,” the Star Tribune reported. “The defense calculates a term of five years.”
The BLM riots that exploded across the nation last year resulted in the deaths of dozens and billions of dollars in damage.
Related: George Floyd Rioter Admits He Set Pawnshop Ablaze But Denies Killing Man Inside