CUP OF JOE: A Protester’s Demise in the Flames of Wrath
Here are seven deadly examples of undeniable terrorism aimed at the government of the United States:
1) the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon;
(2) the bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998;
(3) the destruction of the Oklahoma City federal office building in 1995;
(4) the mid-air bombing of Pan Am Flight number 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988; (5) the 1997 shooting from atop the Empire State Building;
(6) the 1994 murder of Ari Halberstam on the Brooklyn Bridge; and,
(7) the bombing at the World Trade Center in 1993.
In the case we are discussing today, the key issue the court had to determine whether the criminal acts involved were actually acts of terrorism.
THE CASE:
On May 30, 2020, Dwight Parker was one among dozens gathered in the City of Albany for a protest where participants threw rocks and firebombs at police officers, burned personal property and looted storefronts. Dwight was arrested and charged with the crimes of attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer as a crime of terrorism, attempted aggravated assault upon a police officer, attempted assault in the first degree, arson in the third degree, criminal mischief in the second degree and riot in the first degree. Here is what the trial looked like:
TESTIMONY OF ARRESTING OFFICER:
Q: What did you observe at the scene of the protest?
A: A large crowd of protesters formed near the southern police station and were directing their anger toward law enforcement by shouting curses, throwing rocks, bricks and trash cans at us and setting various objects on fire in the streets.
Q: Was there any video footage of what was happening?
A. We were able to collect multiple sources of video footage of the scene.
Q: Do have this footage with you here today?
A. I do.
Q. What will they show us?
A. Specifically, various angles of footage depicted Dwight throwing two Molotov cocktails at a crowd of police officers. It landed only a few feet away from them.
Q. And what is a Molotov cocktail?
A: Well, it’s a canister filled with gasoline and fitted with a lighting mechanism that, when lit and thrown, causes fire to spread in the area of impact.
Q: I see. What did you do with this footage of Dwight?
A. Utilizing the available video footage and observing the clothing of that individual, we traced Dwight’s movements.
Q. And what were those movements?
A. After his arrival, he was observed removing two black bags from his vehicle before travelling in the direction of the southern police station.
Q. And then?
A: Dwight took the bags closer to the location where rioters and police were interacting and crouched over them for a period before eventually lighting one of the bags on fire and running with it. After pouring gasoline on the ground next to a fence, Dwight then returned, lights the second bag on fire and throws it.
Q: Was Dwight arrested at some point?
A: Yes.
Q: How was he located?
A: We later used a license plate reader from the downtown Albany area to determine the registered owner of the vehicle seen in the video and discovered that the owner was tied to a Troy address. We then executed a search warrant the next day, observed the vehicle in question and eventually arrested defendant.
Q: Were you able to speak to Dwight?
A: Yes. We interviewed Dwight, eliciting various admissions that defendant was a participant in the riot on the night in question. Specifically, defendant was shown still images derived from the video footage and conceded that it was him in the pictures.
Q: Did he say what his motivation was?
A: Dwight explained that he was generally concerned about police violence because his sons had come to him worried about getting into trouble.
Q: Was he confronted with the Molotov cocktail incident?
A: Yes. He said, although he "kind of" regretted throwing the Molotov cocktail, he "wanted cops to know that they gotta stop doing what they doing too." And that, "at some point, people get tired of using their voice and still the same sh*t."
Q. Was any further investigation done by law enforcement to understand Dwight’s actions?
A: Yes. We reviewed social media postings and search history from Dwight's Facebook account.
Q. What did you learn?
A: Two of the postings contain a video of Dwight standing with other protestors, stating that "we came here to turn it up, we didn't come out here to talk" and that he would "burn up some sh*t."
Q: Anything else?
A: In a post from the day of the riot, Dwight wrote that he would be "burning this b*tch down and shooting what started this."
Q: Any posts from after the day of the protest?
A: Yes. Posts from Dwight in the days that followed included statements that "this is not the first time they had a . . . march and it was peaceful, but no change" and that "at some point, people are going to bug out because no one is listening, but they start killing. . . . You wake up and do anything to get the point across."
THE VERDICT
Dwight was found GUILTY of all charges and sentenced to a prison term of 20 to 24 years. Dwight’s attorneys appealed.
THE APPEAL
On appeal, the court determined that Dwight was guilty on all counts except for the terrorism charge, stating: “To be clear, there will undoubtedly be occasions when violent acts arising from protests that are directed at a defined government policy will satisfy the requirements of the statute. However, we look to the acts of violence in this case within the guideposts of the specific acts of terrorism referenced in the statute and, through that lens, we decline to loosely interpret the requirement that defendant's conduct was intended to influence a governmental policy”
Dwight’s sentence was reduced to 10 years and 5 years post release supervision.
Here is the case: https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2025/2025_02108.htm
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