A former
Seattle resident pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to unlawful
possession of a destructive device for making and throwing bottles filled with
gasoline at police officers on May 1, 2016, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L.
Hayes. WIL CASEY FLOYD, 33, of Elkhart
Lake, Wisconsin, was arrested in April 2017, after a lengthy investigation that
linked him to a so-called ‘Black Bloc’ of protestors who threw unlit incendiary
devices at Seattle Police during a May Day protest. FLOYD faces up to ten years in prison when
sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez on June 1, 2018.
According
to the plea agreement and other records in the case, FLOYD went online to
research building Molotov cocktails. He
purchased the necessary supplies and constructed six of the explosive devices
using beer bottles. He placed the
bottles filled with gasoline in a black bag.
FLOYD dressed in black, wore a black hood and a gas mask and joined the
protest on the evening of May 1, 2016.
FLOYD threw five of the unlit destructive devices at Seattle Police
Officers. One of the Molotov cocktails
thrown at police shattered at the feet of an officer and ignited his trousers
when a flash-bang grenade went off. The
officer suffered burns to his leg. FLOYD
dropped the bag containing one remaining bottle of gasoline and changed his
clothes and appearance before police could arrest him. The evidence left at the scene on 4th Avenue
South and South Seattle Boulevard and a variety of videos and ultimately helped
identify FLOYD as a suspect.
Under the terms
of the plea agreement, prosecutors agree to recommend a sentence of no more
than 37 month in prison. The ultimate
sentence will be determined by Judge Martinez.
The case
was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Seattle Police
Department, both through its membership on the JTTF and with additional
investigative groups.
The case is
being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Greenberg and Tom
Woods.
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