A man who brought a box containing 12 Molotov cocktails to a protest march on Labor Day in Seattle in 2020 has been sentenced to 40 months in prison, according to a statement from the Office of Public Affairs at the US Department of Justice.
Prosecutors stated that the man, Justin Christopher Moore from Washington, had intended to blow up the building of the Seattle Police Officers Guild.
On the day police overseeing the march smelled gasoline and found the box while searching a nearby parking lot.
Videos from the day showing a man carrying the box matched clothing found at Moore’s home, investigators claimed in court.
Data seized from other protest participants incriminated Moore as well as notebooks found at his residence which contained instructions for producing explosives.
The prosecution, who had initially requested a 41-month sentence, told the judge how merely carrying the box had endangered the 1,000 others around him at the march.
Prosecution works with counterterror task force
The case was prosecuted by Todd Greenberg, an attorney for the Western District of Washington with help from the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.
The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and the Seattle Police Department investigated the case.