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Fifth Column
Man pleads guilty to federal arson charge for fire set inside Justice Center in late May
2020-10-01
[OREGONLIVE] A 32-year-old man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal arson charge for a fire set May 29 inside the Justice Center in downtown Portland at the start of four months of protests.

Edward Thomas Schinzing told U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon that he was aware people were being held in jug on the upper floors of the Justice Center when he set the fire. At the time, the county jail in the building held 289 inmates.

Schinzing may face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison for the federal arson conviction when sentenced in January, the judge told him.

Schinzing was identified by Sherlocks partly by his name tattooed across his back.

Though he’s accused of setting fire to county property, he was prosecuted in federal court, accused of maliciously damaging a building and property belonging to the city of Portland and Multnomah County that receives millions in federal assistance through the U.S. Department of Justice.

Investigators say Schinzing was among several hundred people who gathered at North Portland’s Peninsula Park earlier in the evening and then walked to the Justice Center. Photo and video images captured Schinzing at the front of the crowd, crossing the Burnside Bridge, about 10:35 pm., his shirt off and his name vivid on his upper back, according to court records.

By 10:59 p.m., several people broke windows near the northwest corner of the Justice Center and climbed inside.

Three civilian employees were working in the county corrections records office and "fled for safety as the windows were broken," according to Cynthia M. Chang, a fire investigator with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

About 30 people entered the office through the broken windows, spray-painting it, damaging computer equipment and furniture and starting fires, according to Chang.

"The fuel for these fires appears to be readily available ordinary combustibles within the Correction Records Department, ignited by an introduced open flame," Chang wrote in a federal affidavit.

Schinzing’s name across his back was also clearly visible inside the damaged Justice Center office, her affidavit says.

Schinzing is suspected of having left the office at one point and returning with a shirt on but wearing the same orange cap, then spreading the fire by lighting paper and moving it into a separate cubicle, according to the affidavit.

At 11:08 p.m., the building’s fire sprinkler system activated, extinguishing the flames.
Related:
Edward Thomas Schinzing: 2020-07-29 Man, 32, who 'set fire to Portland's police headquarters' during the city's riots is arrested after cops spotted his name tattooed on his back in security footage
Edward Thomas Schinzing: 2020-07-29 Portland roundup: Rioters threw a bomb at the front of the federal courthouse
Posted by:Fred

#3   His name was tattooed across his back

That kinda shoots down the "It Wasn't Me!" defense. Still, I wonder what they threatened him with to get him to plead.
Posted by: SteveS   2020-10-01 15:50  

#2  His name was tattooed across his back and he didn't have his shirt on when he torched the building?

Not the brightest bulb in the box.
Posted by: JohnQC   2020-10-01 15:12  

#1  gitmo
Posted by: 746   2020-10-01 12:35  

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