First case involving city riots goes to trial today

CLEVELAND — Federal prosecutors say Tandre Buchanan bashed his way into Colossal Cupcakes, joining a crime wave that looted businesses and destroyed property during the riots downtown May 30, 2020.

Buchanan is expected to go to trial Monday in the first federal court case stemming from the attacks on the city. Buchanan, 24, of Cleveland, is charged with robbery and obstruction of justice. He denies the allegations.

The riots began after a peaceful rally organized by Black Lives Matter Cleveland to protest the death of George Floyd. He died May 25, 2020, after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Buchanan was one of several people accused of vandalizing the cupcake shop on Euclid Avenue while five employees huddled in a locked bathroom. One employee had cinder blocks thrown near her head. She told authorities that she feared for her life.

Buchanan’s attorney, Steven Bradley, admitted that his client damaged property “as an expression of frustration and anger toward the lack of meaningful changes in response to years of systemic police brutality.”

“He did not, however, commit a robbery offense, as charged by the government,” Bradley said.

In documents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Zarzycki said that at about 6:30 p.m. on May 30, Buchanan broke a large window at the cupcake business on Euclid Avenue and entered it through an opening. Buchanan encountered some employees, who then ran to a bathroom, locked the door and called police, according to the filing.

Zarzycki said Buchanan took a chair from the business and left through the window he had broken. He then used the chair to shatter a second window. Several people ran into the building and took items from the store, the prosecutor said.

Authorities obtained Buchanan’s phone and found a text message someone had sent him, Zarzycki said.

“What the hell did they do with all the cupcakes?” the person texted.

Buchanan, according to the filing, answered: “Man, I was giving them out.”

Photographers captured Buchanan’s actions breaking into the building. That’s how the FBI was able to find him. Shortly after agents gave photos of a man pounding through the business, tipsters notified agents of Buchanan.

But, Bradley said, “photographic and video evidence does not show that Buchanan stole or took anything from the Colossal Cupcakes’ store.”

The obstruction charge accuses Buchanan of disposing of the clothing he wore that day.

The prosecutor said Buchanan’s role in the riots was not limited to the cupcake business. Zarzycki urged Senior U.S. District Judge Donald Nugent to allow prosecutors to present other evidence during the trial that accuses Buchanan of wrongdoing on the day of the riots.

The prosecutor said federal agents recovered a video from Buchanan’s cellphone that shows him throwing a large object through the glass of Huntington Bank on Public Square.

In addition, agents discovered a photo of Buchanan outside Geiger Sporting Goods on Euclid Avenue, where looters fleeced thousands of dollars in clothing, outdoor gear and a mounted deer’s head. Zarzycki said the photo showed Buchanan holding the deer’s head.

Buchanan told agents that he found the item on the sidewalk. He picked it up, posed for the photo and left it behind. In a text, Buchanan referenced taking the mounted deer’s head, though authorities could not find it during a search of his home, Zarzycki wrote.

He also said more than $6,000 in liquor was stolen from City Tap and Restaurant on Prospect Avenue. On Instagram, a message from Buchanan’s account told another person, “They only had two bottles of Crown Royal, and I sold them both,” the prosecutor said in documents. Zarzycki also noted a photograph that showed Buchanan outside of City Tap, appearing to load the trunk of a vehicle, according to the prosecutor’s filing. The license plate on the car indicated that the registered owner was related to Buchanan, Zarzycki wrote.

Bradley urged Nugent to prevent prosecutors from telling the jury about the incidents. In a filing, Bradley said the allegations of wrongdoing had nothing to do with the charges that Buchanan faces in the indictment.

“The government alleged that Buchanan robbed the Colossal Cupcakes store-not that he robbed City Tap or a sports good store,” Bradley wrote. “The Court should not permit the government to introduce prejudicial and tangential evidence of other alleged crimes.”