Thirteen demonstrators have been arrested for rioting after the fatal shooting of Ricardo Munoz in Lancaster sparked protests in the area.
Seven of them were slapped with bonds of $1 million each.
The rioters remain behind bars after they produced an arson fire that blocked an intersection and damaged police headquarters in Lancaster, a city of almost 60,000 in Pennsylvania.
One of the 13 defendants has been charged with carrying a weapon without a permit.
12 adults – Jessica Marie Lopez, 32; Kathryn Patterson, 20; Dylan Davis, 28; T-Jay Fry, 28; Frank Gaston, 43; Lee Alexander Wise, 29; Barry Jones, 30; Taylor Enterline, 20; Talia Gessner, 18; Matthew Modderman, 31; Yoshua Dwayne Montague, 23; and Jamal Shariff Newman, 24 – face a felony and misdemeanor charges, including criminal conspiracy, institutional vandalism, riot, and arson.
One of the rioters, a 16-year-old boy, has been charged with disorderly conduct, possession of marijuana, possession of instruments of crime, institutional vandalism, propulsion of missiles onto a roadway, and riot.point 408 | 1
Chip Patterson, the father of Kathryn Patterson, an undergraduate student, called the $1 million bail ‘obscene.’
Mr. Patterson said: “Everything that I know so far, which is not a lot, indicates that Kat is not guilty of those charges. But then again, we´ll have to wait and see.”
He added: “I cannot tell you how long this night has been. I think regardless of what these people did or didn’t do, the bail amount is just outrageous and clearly against the Eighth Amendment.”
Protests started after the fatal shooting of Ricardo Munoz, who approached police with a knife. He reportedly stabbed four people last year.
Munoz’s sister said the 27-year-old was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. She had called a police non-emergency number and a crisis intervention organization to get her brother committed.
“He had an episode. He was just incoherent and acting out,” she said. “I called to find out what the procedure was to get him some help.”
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