Two suspects arrested and charged by feds for crossing state lines to aid Antifa rioters
Two suspects, Brandon Michael Althof Long, age 23, and Devon Bryce Poland, age 22, both of Erie, Pennsylvania were arrested on Friday by federal law enforcement agents from the Cleveland Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Long and Poland were arrested in Erie, Pennsylvania at approximately 6:00 AM (Eastern Time) and they were charged via criminal complaint today in a federal court in the Northern District of Ohio on charges of engaging and conspiring to engage in interstate travel with a firearm with the intent to participate in civil unrest and riot, use of fire to commit a felony, and rioting.
“At the Justice Department, we hold people accountable for their actions,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Justin E. Herdman in a statement.
“Mr. Long and Mr. Poland were not from Cleveland. They arrived with weapons and the ingredients for an incendiary device and purposefully inserted themselves into a constitutionally protected protest, with the design to exploit it for their own purposes. We will hold these two accountable for their actions and anyone else who may have violated the law. I believe that we are all seeking the same thing — accountability, justice, and future days and nights that are free from fear, anxiety and victimization,” Herdman said.
“These two individuals traveled to Cleveland with the sole intent of corrupting what was supposed to be a peaceful protest,” said FBI Special Agent In-Charge Eric B. Smith.
“A gun, numerous rounds of ammunition, fire gel, and a hammer are not items consistent with a protest. These are the tools used by criminals to incite and participate in mayhem. The FBI will continue to work with our state and local partners and protect our citizen’s right to peacefully protest. But we will not let people that engage in violence and destruction go unchecked. These two will have their day in court and as will many others that are responsible for the violent destruction of our city last Saturday,” said Agent Smith.
“Everyone has a constitutional right to freedom of speech, to protest, to bring grievance, to express their concerns to government,” said Cleveland Mayor Frank G. Jackson. “Everyone has a right to peacefully demonstrate and protest, but once there is violence against people or property then we need to take action to protect the safety and well-being of our community and citizens. I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their assistance as we look to address the underlying things that have caused the demonstrations in our city.”
“These two individuals traveled to Cleveland with the sole intent of corrupting what was supposed to be a peaceful protest,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric B. Smith.
According to the criminal complaint, at approximately 11:55 p.m. May 30, the defendants were spotted by Cleveland police in a vehicle entering an alleyway at the intersection of East 8th Street and Huron Avenue in downtown Cleveland.
Police then spotted a man leave the alleyway and approach their police vehicle, although a curfew was put into place at 8 p.m. Police believed that the vehicle was involved in criminal activities earlier in the day. In the vehicle, police reported finding a pistol, 17 rounds of ammunition, a hammer, a BB gun resembling a pistol, a red plastic bottle of liquid fire starter, two mobile phones, a bottle of liquor and other objects.
The FBI then began investigating the two and said the iPhones contained messages between Long and Poland that detailed their intentions to travel to Cleveland to promote and encourage riots. Investigators said the defendants talked about bringing supplies to make a Molotov cocktail.
“A gun, numerous rounds of ammunition, fire gel and a hammer are not items consistent with a protest. These are the tools used by criminals to incite and participate in mayhem,” Agent Smith said.
The protests in Cleveland were in response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis. While the protest in Cleveland began peacefully, it turned violent as some protesters burned police cruisers, threw objects at officers and tried to break windows.
Investigators said that they believed the rioting was organized and out-of-town people were involved. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson issued a statement regarding the arrests of the Erie men.
“Everyone has a constitutional right to freedom of speech, to protest, to bring grievance, to express their concerns to government,” Jackson said. “Everyone has a right to peacefully demonstrate and protest, but once there is violence against people or property then we need to take action to protect the safety and well-being of our community and citizens. I want to thank our law enforcement partners for their assistance as we look to address the underlying things that have caused the demonstrations in our city.”
