A police car is engulfed in flames as people protest police brutality in Salt Lake City on Saturday, May 30, 2020. (PHOTO: Ivy Ceballo, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — The FBI announced another arrest in the arson case involving a Salt Lake City Police car on May 30.
Special Agent Paul Haertel says agents arrested Christopher Rojas on July 19th as he left his apartment and entered an Uber vehicle.
“We want to emphasize that most of the protests we saw here were peaceful. Most of the protesters were local. I would also like to remind you that we at the FBI do not conduct any investigation based on First Amendment protected activities. We don’t police ideology. We look for those who look to wish to incite violence and induce harm to the citizens in the area,” Haertel said.
US Attorney for Utah John Huber says that Rojas will face the potential of serving between 5 and 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
“May 30 was a dark day in Utah. It’s a day that opportunists and extremists hijacked a peaceful protest and overran the typically safe streets of Salt Lake City. In the moment of that day, the extremists acted with great confidence as they believed they would carry the day. But order prevailed as it should,” Huber said.
Huber says the information that led to the arrest of Rojas came from a tip submitted by a concerned citizen.
Five other individuals have been charged with felonies for overturning the police car. In June authorities also arrested Jackson Patton, 26, and charged him with arson in the case.
