MN GOP Blasts Weak on Crime Dems’ Leniency for Murderer, Arsonist Convicted in 2020 Riots

MN GOP Blasts Weak on Crime Dems’ Leniency for Murderer, Arsonist Convicted in 2020 Riots

Biden’s DOJ Supports Violence as Political Protest – Do DFL Politicians Agree?

Minneapolis, MN – Today Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann blasted President Joe Biden and Democrats for their latest weak-on-crime public safety failure. Biden’s Justice Department asked for leniency for a criminal convicted of burning a business that killed a man during the 2020 riots.

“President Biden’s Justice Department asked for a light sentence for this dangerous criminal because his violent act occurred in support of the Democrats’ political agenda. This is completely unacceptable and Democrats at every level need to denounce this behavior. Violence has no place in our political discourse. President Biden’s DFL allies – from Dean Phillips and Angie Craig to Gov. Tim Walz, Atty. Gen. Ellison and more – need to answer; do they agree that violence is an acceptable form of political expression?” – Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann

News Background

Montez Terriel Lee, Jr. was convicted of burning down a business that killed a man during the riots of 2020
“A man who set a deadly fire in a Minneapolis pawn shop during the 2020 George Floyd riots was spared a murder charge and sentenced to just 10 years…” (Washington Examiner, Prosecutors win light sentence for man who set deadly fire during Floyd riots, 1/27/22)

The sentence was well below what guidelines suggest for such a conviction.
“[Lee] was sentenced earlier this month to 10 years in federal prison — much less than the 16 1/2 to 20-year punishment outlined in the sentencing guidelines.” (Washington Examiner, Prosecutors win light sentence for man who set deadly fire during Floyd riots, 1/27/22)

Biden’s Justice Department sought a lighter sentence because the crimes were related to the 2020 riots
“There appear…to have been many people who felt angry, frustrated and disenfranchised, and who were attempting…to give voice to those feelings. Mr. Lee appears to be squarely in this latter category” (United States v. Montez Terriel Lee, Jr., 11/4/21)

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