MINNEAPOLIS — A Long Lake man was sentenced to five years in prison for setting fires in a government building in Apple Valley as riots took place in Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd.
Garret Patrick Ziegler, 25, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting arson in U.S. District Court Friday. Ziegler and his associate in the case, Fornandous Cortez Henderson, broke windows with baseball bats and threw Molotov cocktails into the Dakota County Western Service Center on May 29, according to a United States Attorney's Office news release.
The building housed a U.S. passport center and several court facilities.
As part of the guilty plea, Ziegler will also be on supervised release for three years and will have to pay $205,872 in restitution.
The two also poured ignitable liquids in and around the broken windows to start fires.
Henderson targeted the building because he was angry with law enforcement regarding the death of George Floyd. He also had previous court appearances there, according to the release.
"Ziegler, who was also angry at law enforcement, agreed to the target because of its connection to law enforcement," according to the release.
Ziegler admitted he purchased items to construct the Molotov cocktails including mason jars, pushpins, isopropyl alcohol, nail polish remover, bottles of alcohol, lighter fluid and a baseball bat.
Target representatives confirmed to authorities Ziegler was an employee at their Minnetonka store and he had purchased some of the items on his Target debit card, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
Henderson was sentenced to more than six years for his involvement in December. He was convicted of aiding and abetting arson and ordered to pay $205,872 in restitution.
