Minneapolis man sentenced for 2020 arson at Target HQ

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A man was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday for attempting to start a fire at Target’s corporate headquarters in Minneapolis during a riot in the summer of 2020. 

Leroy Lemonte Perry Williams, 37, was convicted by a federal jury in October 2023 on one count of arson. He was sentenced on Wednesday to 120 months (10 years) in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

On Aug. 26, 2020, a riot broke out in Minneapolis 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. 

During the incident, court records indicate Williams broke into Target’s headquarters and repeatedly tried to light cardboard on fire.

Another man, Victor Edwards, 30, of St. Paul, was sentenced in August 2021 to eight years in prison for also attempting to start a fire in Target’s headquarters during the same riot.