2 men plead guilty to arson of Target headquarters in Minneapolis
Surveillance video showed a man, later identified as Shador Tommie Cortez Jackson, using a construction sign to breaking the glass door of Target Headquarters in downtown Minneapolis. (U.S. Attorney's Office District of Minnesota)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Two men have pleaded guilty to the arson of the Target headquarters in downtown Minneapolis last summer.
According to the District of Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office, 24-year-old Shador Tommie Cortez Jackson of Richfield and 34-year-old Leroy Lemonte Perry Williams of Minneapolis both pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson.
According to the charges, a riot broke out in Minneapolis on Aug. 26 after false rumors of a deadly police shooting spread on social media. That evening groups of people gathered downtown along the Nicollet Mall and looted stores.
The charges state Jackson and Williams went to Target headquarters on Nicollet Mall. Jackson used a construction sign to break one of the glass doors of the building. The men were among a group that went inside. Jackson set a fire inside the mailroom and the group ran out of the building. Williams later went back inside and tried to light a fire at the building's entrance.
Both men are scheduled to be sentenced in May.