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Fifth Column

Virginia man who set police car ablaze during George Floyd riot sentenced to 364 days, avoids deportation

2022-07-21

[FoxNews] The first of six people charged with setting fire to police vehicles in Philadelphia during the 2020 protests after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police has been sentenced.

Ayoub Tabri, 25, was sentenced Monday to 364 days behind bars -- less time than he's already served in custody, and short enough to avoid triggering deportation proceedings for the Moroccan immigrant.

Lawyers for Tabri, of Arlington, Va., said the green card holder has been in the U.S. since he was 6 years old. A longer sentence, which he and the others faced under the original arson charges that carried a minimum sentence of seven years in prison, could have sent him to a country where he knew no one and didn't speak the language, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain had vowed to pursue the harsher arson charges against the six people arrested. After he left office last year, federal prosecutors worked out plea deals with a handful of those defendants, including Tabri and Lore-Elizabeth Blumenthal. Still, prosecutors argued for a longer sentence in court Monday.

Tabri pleaded guilty in March to one count of obstructing law enforcement during civil disorder, according to court records.

"The judge took into consideration the appropriate factors and imposed a just sentence," Nancy MacEoin, a federal public defender representing Tabri, said Tuesday.

Once released, Tabri will serve three years probation and have to pay about $87,000 in restitution for the Pennsylvania State Police car destroyed after he and others threw lit road flares into the vehicle.

Blumenthal, who pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing law enforcement during civil disorder related to throwing a piece of burning police barrier at a police car, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. Police used photos from the protest and social media profiles to find Blumenthal, 35, from Jenkintown, who was wearing a distinctive shirt investigators tracked down on Etsy and had a recognizable tattoo.

Attorney Paul Hetznecker declined to comment on the specifics of Blumenthal's case, but said the shift in prosecution against defendants facing charges from the protests is important.

"This reflects an evolution in the thinking of prosecutors in the justice department

...what a gentle way to describe being unprincipled political hacks...

about these cases and putting them in the appropriate context," Hetznecker said. "These cases occurred at an important flashpoint in our history, and they should be viewed that way."

The case against Blumenthal was widely criticized by civil rights advocates, who worried it was a signal of policies promoting heavier social media and internet surveillance of dissidents.

Did any of those wide civil rights advocates protest the exact same use of social media to hint down the January 6 protesters?

McSwain's initial charges also became a symbol of federal officials' zeal to pursue stiff penalties for those arrested during the nationwide protests.

Another defendant is scheduled for a plea hearing to lesser charges later this month. The three others charged in the police vehicle fires are slated to go to trial later this year.

Update at 5:00 p.m. EDT from information found on links on Mr. Tabri’s Antifa Watch page. From Fox29 on October 29, 2020:

US Attorney William McSwain announced charges against four men stemming from their alleged involvement in police vehicle arsons during civil unrest in Philadelphia over the summer.

Anthony David Smith, Khalif Miller, and Carlos Matchett have each been charged with two counts of arson and one count of obstructing law enforcement, U.S. Attorney William McSwain said on Thursday.

According to McSwain, the three men are accused of using a road flare to torch a Philadelphia police patrol car parked near City Hall on May 30, as ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful demonstrations unfolded in the city following the death of St. George Floyd

...the patron saint of Minneapolis, a sterling example for our children and indeed for us all. St. George was martyed by the Devil's agents in blue while standing on a street corner preaching tolerance and racial justice or something like that...
Smith has been identified by the Workers World Party,

...a revolutionary Marxist–Leninist-Trotskyist political party in the United States founded in 1959 by Sam Marcy of the Socialist Workers Party....

as a high school teacher, community leader and organizer with Philly REAL (Racial, Economic and Legal) Justice. They say Smith has been a 'prominent organizer' of the Black Lives Matter Movement since 2015 and has led countless marches in that time.

So prominent he is now appearing in the Rantburg archives for the first time...

"Mr. Smith was not in any way targeted by my office, I knew nothing about Mr. Smith or his affiliations until the investigation was nearly complete," McSwain said. "We do not investigate people at the US Attorney's office, we investigate alleged criminal behavior."

According to McSwain, the three men are accused of using a road flare to torch a Philadelphia police patrol car near City Hall on May 30, as ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful demonstrations unfolded in the city following the death of George Floyd.

Also indicted on Thursday was Ayoub Tabri,

...known to his friends as Spliff, for some reason...

a 24-year-old man from Arlington, Virginia. Tabri is alleged to have thrown a road flare into a Pennsylvania State Police SUV positioned near the on-ramp for I-676, which caused the car to become engulfed in flames. He has been charged with two counts of arson, and one count of obstructing law enforcement.

As a result of Tabri's alleged actions, McSwain said an officer who was standing near the torched vehicle was hit by a thrown road flare and his uniform caught fire. The trooper was also burned on the hand when he reached into the engulfed cruiser to retrieve a rifle to prevent it from being stolen.

If convicted, all four defendants face a mandatory minimum of seven years in prison, and a maximum possible sentence of 65 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $750,000.

"I want to be clear that we at the U.S. Attorney’s Office support peaceful protest — indeed, it is part of our job to protect First Amendment freedoms," McSwain said. "But violence is not speech. There is no right to riot, loot, rob, destroy or commit arson."

Related: Antifa Philly for REAL Justice

Posted by:Skidmark

#5 Restitution is a joke. An assistant DA once told me that the typical amount paid back is less than a dime on the dollar ordered by the court.

Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-07-21 14:38

#4 Two possibilities of Ayoub paying the $87k restitution:

slim

none

Posted by: Lord Garth 2022-07-21 14:31

#3 The people this gentleman was arrested with were led by an Antifa cadre, so I’m moving this to Page 1: WoT, Fifth Column. I’m not at home so I’ll add the details later.

Posted by: trailing wife 2022-07-21 11:06

#2 Ayoub Tabri, 25, was sentenced Monday to 364 days behind bars -- less time than he's already served in custody, and short enough to avoid triggering deportation proceedings for the Moroccan immigrant.

restitution? Ship his ass back

Posted by: Frank G 2022-07-21 08:40

#1 Arson of property exceeding $20,000 is now Time served and probation?

Posted by: NN2N1 2022-07-21 08:04

00:00