VIDEO: An Alaska man was sentenced to 20 months in prison for trying to set fire to a Seattle police precinct during last summer's racial justice protests.
Desmond David-Pitts pleaded guilty to a federal arson conspiracy charge in January, acknowledging he set a fire to trash piled outside the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct Aug. 24 while others tried to bar a door to keep officers from leaving. David-Pitts was identified and arrested within an hour thanks to his distinctive pink-camouflage pants.
He told investigators following his arrest that he had bad experiences with police and that he was angry.
"The intentional fire set ... in an organized, pre-planned attack endangered the lives of our officers and our entire community," former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said at the time. "This was not a peaceful protest, or demonstration for equity, but an act of lawlessness."
David-Pitts had arrived in Seattle from Alaska three days before Monday’s protest, according to the criminal complaint.