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Galesburg Man Pleads Guilty in Minneapolis Arson Case

Tri States Public Radio | By Rich Egger
Published April 9, 2021 at 12:21 PM CDT
Matthew Lee Rupert
Matthew Lee Rupert

A Galesburg man pleaded guilty to one count of arson in connection with last year's protests in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd.

The Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota said a sentencing date will be scheduled later for Matthew Lee Rupert, age 28.

Prosecutors said Rupert announced on Facebook Live that he was in Minneapolis and that he was there to riot. They also said the video showed Rupert encouraging violence against police officers. The video also shows him breaking into buildings and looting businesses.

Prosecutors said Rupert entered a boarded-up Sprint store, knocked over several boxes, and sprayed the pile of boxes with lighter fluid. He then told someone else -- who was a juvenile at the time -- to light the pile on fire.

Prosecutors said the fire damaged the store.

Copyright 2021 Tri States Public Radio. To see more, visit Tri States Public Radio.

State News
Rich Egger
Rich is the News Director at Tri States Public Radio. Rich grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago but now calls Macomb home. Rich has a B.A in Communication Studies with an Emphasis on Radio, TV, and Film from Northern Illinois University. Rich came to love radio in high school where he developed his “news nerdiness” as he calls it. Rich’s high school had a radio station called WFVH, which he worked at for a couple years. In college, Rich worked at campus station WKDI for three years, spinning tunes and serving at various times as General Manager, Music Director and Operations Manager. Before being hired as Tri States Public Radio’s news director in 1998, Rich worked professionally in news at WRMN-AM/WJKL-FM in Elgin and WJBC-AM in Bloomington. In Rich’s leisure time he loves music, books, cross-country skiing, rooting for the Cubs and Blackhawks, and baking sugar frosted chocolate bombs. His future plans include “getting some tacos.”
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