Molotov cocktail (for illustrative purposes only)
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A 23-year-old man was sentenced to four years in federal prison after admitting he threw a Molotov cocktail toward Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies during protests against immigration raids last spring, federal prosecutors said.
Emiliano Garduño Gálvez, a Mexican national who authorities say is in the United States illegally, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in October to possession of an unregistered destructive device and civil disorder. The charges stem from an incident on June 7 in Paramount, a city southeast of Los Angeles.
Sheriff's deputies had responded that day to a large protest outside a Home Depot where U.S. Border Patrol agents had gathered. According to the plea agreement obtained by the Los Angeles Times back in October, demonstrators were throwing rocks and other objects at law enforcement officers.
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Garduño Gálvez admitted that he positioned himself behind a wall, lit the Molotov cocktail and hurled it toward deputies. The incendiary device landed in a grassy area near the foot of a protester and about 15 feet from the deputies, according to court documents. He then fled the scene.
The plea agreement states that Garduño Gálvez threw the device "intending to obstruct, interfere with, and impede" deputies who were lawfully performing their duties.
"This defendant's reckless behavior threatened the lives and safety of law enforcement officers and that of a lawful protester," Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement.
Federal public defenders representing Garduño Gálvez had asked the court to impose a three-year sentence, arguing in a sentencing memorandum that he "readily admits and acknowledges how serious his actions were and the harm that could have ensued," according to ABC News. The judge instead imposed a four-year sentence.
The protests were part of a broader wave of demonstrations across Southern California in response to an immigration enforcement crackdown last June. While many protests were peaceful, others escalated into confrontations with law enforcement, resulting in hundreds of arrests and the use of chemical irritants to disperse crowds.
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Tags: California, Los Angeles, Mexican
