Texas Man Accused of Making Molotov Cocktail at Protest Faces Ten Years in Prison
Police say they have video evidence of him making the device near the Austin Police Department.
Back on May 30th, 25-year-old Cyril Laurence Lartigue was arrested by Austin police during a protest going on in the city that day. Police said they witnessed Lartigue through an overhead HALO camera squatting behind a portable toilet near Austin Police Department headquarters during the protest. He was seen emptying a beer bottle and refilling it with an unknown liquid and stuffing a piece of cloth into the top of the bottle and saturating the cloth with the unknown liquid.
Police found Lartigue inside the potable toilet with no molotov cocktail. It is “presumed that the incendiary device was placed within the porta potty receptacle.” He denied making any incendiary devices and denied lighting fires during the protest. Lartigue was charged with possession and manufacturing of a prohibited weapon following his arrest, and Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced they have charged Lartigue with one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device.
“The constitutional line is clear,” U.S. Attorney John Bash said. “Speech and peaceful assembly are protected; violence is not. If you bring a Molotov cocktail onto the streets of Austin, you can expect to go to federal prison.” The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, along with the Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety are all continuing to investigate the incident.