Editors Note: The following press release is directly from ATF. Regular readers of AmmoLand News know our stance on the unaccountable Federal Agency: No comment. We invite our readers to leave their hard-hitting insights in the comments below.
AUSTIN – -(Ammoland.com)- A Cedar Park man was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison today for possessing parts of a destructive device, a Molotov cocktail, with the intent to construct such a device during an evening protest in Austin on May 30, 2020.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Cyril Lartigue, 27, was caught on videotape manufacturing a destructive device while in a parking lot directly adjacent to the Austin Municipal Court entrance. While making the device, Lartigue was interrupted by the oncoming presence of Austin Police Department officers heading in his direction. Lartigue fled the area, leaving the device behind, but returned within minutes to retrieve it. Police officers later arrested Lartigue inside a nearby portable toilet where he had changed clothes. Inside his backpack officers recovered materials used to manufacture a destructive device, including beer bottles, a bottle with lighter fluid, cloth rags, and a butane lighter along with the clothes he was previously wearing.
Lartigue was convicted following a jury trial in October 2021.
“The sentence imposed today demonstrates our office’s commitment to the prosecution of violent crime,” said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff. “Peaceful protest cannot and must not be conflated with violence and the construction of dangerous weapons like Molotov cocktails. The prosecution and sentence in this case should serve as a deterrent to those considering similar acts in the future.”
“Our constitutional right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct and must be protected,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Fred J. Milanowski. “People like the defendant who bring illegal and dangerous weapons to a protest should be prosecuted to protect and preserve that right for us all. I want to thank the jury for listening to all the evidence and sending the message that taking dangerous and destructive devices to protests will not be tolerated.”
The ATF, Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Keith Henneke and Gabriel Cohen are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
ATF is the federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating violations of the federal firearms and explosives laws and regulations. More information about ATF and its programs can be found at www.atf.gov.
The crimes here are rioting, attempted arson {probable}, terrorism – yes this IS terrorism and the atfe’s illegal enforcement of an illegal, unconstitutional law. Don’t get me wrong, this dirt bag was absolutely looking for trouble and, according to the atfe’s claim, manufactured a bomb, a fire bomb. We, as American citizens do have the right to protest but not to riot. The second amendment refers to every American citizen as the militia and that gives us the right to have and use anything a militia might have and use. So, even this dirt bag has the right to make… Read more »
he was not a democrat wearing a black lives matter shirt
Yes, his big mistake was being white. Otherwise he would have been just another “mostly peaceful protestor”
It is less surprising that the perpetrator would be foolish enough to try this in Texas where citizens interrupted the U.T. tower shooter and the church shooting in White Settlement, but that he did not get away with it in Austin.
What is important is intent. 55 years ago I was in college in Flagstaff. Couple of us found some dynamite in an old mine. We proceeded to place the sticks in rock crevices and shoot at them until they exploded. Stupid? Probably. But we had no intent to destroy anything or anyone.
“Our constitutional right to peacefully protest is sacrosanct and must be protected,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Fred J. Milanowski.
That seems to only apply if you are protesting for a democrat supported idea and you only have to be “mostly peaceful”.
I’ve wondered before why fire bombs were named, “Molotov cocktails” so I looked it up. Turns out the Finns gave them the name, pretty interesting read.
these fools did nothing except come in at the end and pick up the bomb material, so why post this as an accomplishment? trying to make themselves relevant is my guess. another worthless government agency coming in and taking credit for work someone else did, or status quo.
What in the name of God is that?! It looks like something that a kid put together! Are these idiots for real?!
I think that is just a mockup for editorial purposes. Hey, that Mpls wind got here about 0900 hrs. Thank you for the brisk meteorological conditions.
A stupid person doing a stupid thing, deserves more time in the big house than what he received.
Bomb? Really? This is what BATF considers a bomb? By the description of the ingredients presented in the article and the photo of anything but a workable bomb, it is likely that each and every one of us here possesses “materials for constructing a bomb”, the BATF self-created “law” which BATF has used over the last several decades for the arrest and conviction of dozens of innocent citizens when BATF couldn’t manufacture a gun violation. One case in Georgia involved and hand loader who possessed smokeless powder, PVC pipe he was using on his property, canon fuse and various household… Read more »
guess he didnt have Garrett Smith money to stay on the streets