Reno man charged with breaking U.S. courthouse windows

RENO — Federal prosecutors have charged a Reno man with destruction of federal property, alleging he threw a cigarette butt receptacle through the first-floor windows of the city’s federal courthouse during a nighttime melee that followed a May 30 Black Lives Matter march.

Some two dozen people were arrested, and Reno imposed a curfew when violence erupted at the conclusion of a local protest over the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Rioters broke store windows and lighted fires, and police in riot gear set off tear gas canisters to push crowds back.

Mostofthearrestswerefor disobeying police instructions to disperse or for violating the curfew.

In the federal case, Reno resident Keith Leroy Moreno, 27, is accused of throwing a 23-pound cigarette receptacle and two rocks that broke threewindowsatthebrucethompson U.S. Courthouse.

According to the Nevada U.S. attorney’s office, court documents say Moreno bragged about the act, saidlawenforcementwasn’tsmart enough to catch him and vowed to “go right back to it” if more civil unrestbrokeout.

He was arrested Wednesday and made his initial appearance in courtbyvideoconferencethursday.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich said the office was committed to First Amendment rights, but “violence, destruction, and vandalism, including damage to federal property suchascourthouses,willnotbe tolerated.”

The destruction of government property charge carries with it a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@ reviewjournal.com. Follow @Dentzernews on Twitter.