‘Let’s start a riot.’ Illinois man accused of bringing homemade bombs to protests

An Illinois man who livestreamed videos of himself taking part in violence and thefts at protests faces federal charges of inciting a riot, The Chicago Tribune reports.

Matthew Rupert, 28, of Galesburg also had several homemade explosive devices in his vehicle when Chicago police arrested him early Sunday on suspicion of violating curfew, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.

A video posted by Rupert, who is white, on Saturday from Chicago shows him saying “let’s start a riot” and “I’m going to start doing some damage,” WMAQ reported.

Other videos from Minneapolis protests show Rupert stealing from an Office Depot and encouraging fellow protesters to attack police, The Duluth News-Tribune reported.

National protests erupted this week after video emerged of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck as he begged for air during his May 25 arrest on suspicion of fraud.

Floyd, a black man, later died. Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, has been arrested in the death. He and three other Minneapolis police officers also have been fired.

Some of the protests, which have spread from Minneapolis across the nation, have been blamed for clashes with police, fires and other unrest.

The violence and thefts involve much smaller groups at mostly peaceful gatherings, authorities say. The vast majority of the protesters across the nation have been “peaceful demonstrators calling for change,” law enforcement officials told ABC News.

Dozens of cities have enacted curfews and the National Guard has been mobilized in several states. President Donald Trump has threatened to use the military to quell violence.

On Monday, federal authorities charged Rupert with inciting a riot and possessing explosives in a telephone hearing by the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, The Chicago Tribune reported.

A release by the U.S. Attorney’s office for Minnesota says Rupert posted a message Thursday to Facebook saying he was going to Minneapolis and calling for “goons” to join him.

In videos posted online Friday from Minneapolis, Rupert offers “bombs” to other protesters and encourages them to throw them at SWAT vehicles, the release says.

The videos also show Rupert stealing from an Office Depot and claiming to have set fire to a Sprint store, federal officials say.

On Saturday, Rupert posted messages to his Facebook account saying he was headed to Chicago, the release says. One message read, “We will be back bro we can loot til 2:30.”

More videos posted early Sunday from Chicago show Rupert saying “let’s start a riot” and “I’m going to start doing some damage,” the release says.

Chicago police arrested him at 2:21 a..m. Sunday. According to the release, police found a hammer, a heavy-duty flashlight and cash in his vehicle along with explosives.

Incidents of young white men starting fires and sparking violence at protests have been reported across the United States, The New York Times reported.

“I know protests, I’ve been doing it for 20 years,” said Mike Griffin of Minneapolis, according to the publication. “People not affiliated with the protests are creating havoc on the streets.”

People and organizations on both the far left and far right have been accused of sparking violence at protests, however, while experts say there are as yet no signs of any organized efforts on either side to infiltrate protests, The New York Times reported.

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 8:27 AM with the headline "‘Let’s start a riot.’ Illinois man accused of bringing homemade bombs to protests."