CEDAR PARK, Texas — A Cedar Park man has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for making a Molotov cocktail during the 2020 protests.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 27-year-old Cyril Lartigue was sentenced Thursday for possessing parts of a destructive device with intent to construct the explosive during an evening protest in Austin on May 30, 2020.
Officials said Lartigue was caught on camera making the device while in a parking lot next to the Austin Municipal Court entrance. Amid his attempts, Lartigue was interrupted by oncoming police officers heading his way and he fled.
Officials said he left the device but came back to retrieve it. Officers later arrested him as he was inside a portable toilet, where he had changed clothes. Inside his backpack, officers found other materials used to manufacture a destructive device, such as beer bottles, lighter fluid, cloth rags, a butane lighter and the clothes he was previously wearing.
Lartigue was convicted after a jury trial in October 2021.
“The sentence imposed today demonstrates our office’s commitment to the prosecution of violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff. “Peaceful protest cannot and must not be conflated with violence and the construction of dangerous weapons like Molotov cocktails. The prosecution and sentence in this case should serve as a deterrent to those considering similar acts in the future.”
“Our constitutional right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct and must be protected,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Fred J. Milanowski. “People like the defendant who bring illegal and dangerous weapons to a protest should be prosecuted to protect and preserve that right for us all. I want to thank the jury for listening to all the evidence and sending the message that taking dangerous and destructive devices to protests will not be tolerated.”
The ATF, Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Keith Henneke and Gabriel Cohen are prosecuting on behalf of the government.
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