A southern California man plead guilty on Thursday for attempting to set fire to the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse during a riot in downtown Portland on July 13, 2020, according to federal prosecutors in Oregon.
Kevin Benjamin Weier, 35, of Vista, California, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to one count of depredation of government property, court documents stated.
Breaking: Kevin Benjamin Weier, 35, of Vista, Calif., pleaded guilty to a federal charge over setting fire to the federal courthouse in Portland during the #antifa insurrection in July 2020. He'll be sentenced in November. https://t.co/g2slLejc7T pic.twitter.com/NumwXqAzry
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 19, 2021
During the riot, Weier placed a piece of burning wood against the courthouse building in an attempt to set it on fire. US Marshalls arrested Weier and took him into custody the morning of the attack on July 13, 2020.
The federal courthouse was under attack for much of the summer of 2020, and then President Donald Trump sent federal agents to Portland in an attempt to protect the property. Federal buildings in Portland were closed amidst the unrest.
On August 10, 2021, Weier was charged by criminal information with one count of depredation of government property, court documents stated.
The attack took place during the height of civil unrest in Portland, Oregon in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department on May 25. Riots in Portland lasted for more than 100 days.
Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists spent months rioting and committing various acts of violence and crimes outside the federal courthouse, including arson, property damage, and assaults on both law enforcement officers and citizens of the city.
Portland's anti-police riots were the longest running riots of the George Floyd movement in 2020.
A Portland man has been charged with arson after pushing a burning dumpster against the @PortlandPolice North Precinct building on June 26, 2020. Read more: https://t.co/nAYptMsEGU pic.twitter.com/tEKdyZydQj
— U.S. Attorney Oregon (@USAO_OR) September 16, 2020
In June 2021, a Black Lives Matter rioter received a 60-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree arson. Gavaughn Gaquez Streeter-Hillerich, 23, pled guilty to intentionally damaging city property by lighting the Portland Police Bureau's north precinct on fire at an Antifa riot in June, 2020.
Weier will be sentenced on November 15, 2021. He faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years supervised release.
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