Erie man charged with arson at protests held pending trial

A man accused of torching an Erie, Pa., coffee shop during a George Floyd protest last week will be held in U.S. custody pending trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Lanzillo issued the order Monday in a video detention hearing for Melquan Barnett, one of three people charged federally in this district in the wake of the unrest over Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Mr. Barnett, 28, is charged with malicious destruction of property using fire or explosives during a May 30 protest. The U.S. attorney’s office said that after the protest was “hijacked” by agitators, Mr. Barnett set a fire at Ember and Forge, a coffee shop on State Street.

Prosecutors arguing for detention presented the standard argument that no conditions of release will assure the safety of the public. The defense argued that arson under the federal statute is not a crime of violence and requested that Mr. Barnett be released.

The judge said the offense is a crime of violence and sided with the government. Under federal law, the burden is on defendants charged with violent crimes to show why they should not be locked up — the opposite of the court system.

Mr. Barnett was the first defendant charged in federal court for actions during the protests. Two others, Brian Bartels and Michael Michanowicz, were charged in separate cases Friday in connection with protests in Pittsburgh.

Prosecutors said Mr. Bartels, 20, of Shaler, was the instigator who incited violence by damaging a police car near PPG Paints Arena on May 30. He is charged with obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder.

Mr. Michanowciz, 52, of Duquesne Heights, placed a backpack containing homemade bombs near 2 PNC Plaza on May 31, prosecutors said. He is charged with possession of an unregistered explosive device.

After Mr. Barnett was charged in Erie, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said the First Amendment does not permit people to use protest as a cover for committing arson, destroying property or inciting violence. He promised that his office would pursue protesters who “cross this line.”

In Mr. Barnett’s case, an affidavit says that video footage from Facebook Live and the coffee shop show a masked man shattering the shop’s window and setting a fire. Video footage from the area near City Hall on the same evening showed the same man, without a mask but wearing the same clothing.

Police identified him as Mr. Barnett, prosecutors said.