A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to four years in federal prison after admitting to throwing a Molotov cocktail at Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies during an immigration protest last spring.
Emiliano Garduno Galvez, a Mexican national who authorities say is in the United States illegally, pleaded guilty in October to possessing an unregistered destructive device and civil disorder. The incident took place on 7 June in Paramount, a city near Los Angeles, where deputies had responded to a large protest outside a Home Depot. Demonstrators were throwing rocks and other items at the scene, where US Border Patrol agents had gathered.
According to the plea agreement, Galvez admitted that he went behind a wall, lit the incendiary device and hurled it towards where he had seen the deputies. The cocktail landed in a grassy area near the foot of a protester, about 15 feet from the officers. Galvez then ran away. He said he threw the device with the intention of obstructing, interfering with and impeding the deputies, who were lawfully engaged in their official duties.
Bill Essayli, the first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement: “This defendant's reckless behaviour threatened the lives and safety of law enforcement officers and that of a lawful protester.” Federal public defenders had asked for a more lenient three-year sentence, arguing in a sentencing memo that Galvez now “readily admits and acknowledges how serious his actions were and the harm that could have ensued”.
Many demonstrations against the June immigration crackdown were peaceful, with marchers chanting slogans and carrying signs, though others led to clashes with police, hundreds of arrests and the use of chemical irritants to disperse crowds.
