Ex-Hill AFB airman sentenced for role in burning Salt Lake City police car during 2020 protest

The last of five co-defendants who faced federal charges for their role in burning a Salt Lake City police car during a 2020 protest was sentenced Friday — and he’s the only one who won’t spend time in prison.

Larry Williams, 21, wore a blue plaid, collared shirt Friday as he stood before U.S. District Judge David Barlow and said he doesn’t like to fail.

“That day, I made a mistake and I failed,” the former Hill Air Force Base airman said. He later apologized and at one point paused his testimony as he became overwhelmed with emotion.

“I’d do absolutely anything to take that day back,” he said.

Williams was one of hundreds who gathered at the Capitol and at Salt Lake City Hall on May 30 to protest police violence after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.

It wasn’t the first protest in Salt Lake City following Floyd’s killing, and it wasn’t the last. But it marked one of the biggest and most destructive.

The protest began with a car caravan organized by Utah Against Police Brutality, but people soon took to the streets and marched from the downtown police station to the Capitol and back.

The demonstration lasted for about 11 hours, ending after city leaders imposed a curfew and police officers from 13 cities along with Utah National Guard soldiers began firing rubber bullets at demonstrators and arresting protesters to enforce it.

Some demonstrators overturned and burned a Salt Lake City police cruiser that an officer had parked near the downtown library earlier that day. Others smashed windows at Trax stops or spray painted anti-police mantras including “ACAB” and “FTP” on the Capitol and street signs

Barlow said most people who protested that summer were peaceful. A small number went further and faced charges in 3rd District Court. The five charged in federal court, including Williams, went the “furthest,” he said.

Williams was accused of throwing a burning sheet at the police cruiser near the library. Barlow on Friday noted that Williams didn’t quite hit his target and could have pushed the sheet inside the car to cause more damage. But he didn’t.

Still, Barlow said burning the car was a serious crime, one that could have turned deadly if the fire had ignited the vehicle’s remaining fuel or exploded the ammunition left inside after the SLCPD officer fled.

But Barton said he believed Williams was remorseful and that he would not re-offend.

“I think this was a one-time mistake,” the judge said before sentencing Williams to two years of supervision. Williams will spend the first year of that sentence on house arrest.

Williams and the four co-defendants all were initially indicted on arson-related charges that carried a possible penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but the court dismissed the arson charges as part of the defendants’ plea deals.

Co-defendants Christopher Rojas, Lateesha Richards, Jackson Patton and Latroi Newbins all pleaded guilty to a civil disorder charge instead.

While Williams pleaded guilty to the same civil disorder charge as his co-defendants, the others were sentenced to between one and two years in federal prison, as well as three years of probation.

Attorneys for those defendants did not return requests for comment Friday. Neither did a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office.

But Drew Yeates, a federal prosecutor, said Friday that Williams “stands apart” from his co-defendants.

He described Richards and Patton as the main perpetrators and said they appropriately got “heftier” sentences: 20 and 24 months in prison, respectively. Rojas and Newbins’ crimes and criminal histories, he said, were less serious than Richards and Patton’s, so they were each sentenced to 13 months.

Williams had an even lesser role in destroying the car and “lived an exemplary life” outside that day, Yeates said. He asked that Williams receive a lesser sentence.

While the federal case concluded Friday, 15 other protesters from May 30 were charged in district court in connection with burning or otherwise damaging the police car. Most of those cases have been resolved with plea deals, but three defendants still face first-degree felony criminal mischief charges that could mean life in prison if convicted.

Brandon McCormick, who showed up to the May 30 protest midday and confronted protesters with a compound bow, also was charged. He pleaded guilty to third-degree felony counts of aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. McCormick was ordered to spend 364 days in county jail.

In total, nearly 60 people were arrested between May 30 and June 1 as authorities enforced the imposed curfew, according to court records. Most people arrested were accused of failing to disperse.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declined to file curfew-related charges. But activists criticized county prosecutors for tacking a gang enhancement on some of the first-degree felony charges that May 30 protesters did face.

More than a month later, county prosectors also pursued charges against people accused of vandalizing the district attorney’s office building during a July 9, 2020, protest. Activists called the decision a conflict of interest and called for Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill to resign.

Those cases were turned over to an outside prosecutor, who reduced the charges to lower-degree felonies and misdemeanors. All nine charged in connection to the office protest pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and must pay $100,000 for damage to the building.

Each of the federal co-defendants charged in connection with the burned police car were ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution, plus a $100 fee.