by Kyle Hooten
Victor Devon Edwards, 34, of St. Paul traveled to Minneapolis during the Nicollet Mall riot in August 2020 where he was caught on video looting and committing arson. Earlier this week he was sentenced to 100 months behind bars.
The Nicollet riot occurred after online rumors spread that police had killed a black person outside the mall. In reality, a fleeing murder suspect actually killed himself — but this didn’t stop the looters who smashed, grabbed and burned their way through luxury stores and other buildings in what has since been praised in a local outlet as a “mini-rebellion of the alienated dispossessed.”
While the majority of rioters seem to have evaded punishment, one trio has been put under the law enforcement microscope for their roles in the chaos. Edwards is one of these men and was recently convicted and sentenced for causing just over $941,000 of damage to the Target headquarters in addition to looting and burning other buildings.
“Edwards was captured on video surveillance participating in the rioting and looting at Saks Off Fifth and entering other closed stores and businesses that evening, including Caribou Coffee, Target Headquarters, and Brit’s Pub on Nicollet Mall,” a DOJ press release about his sentencing reads. “Edwards was captured on video surveillance helping to break into the Target Headquarters building and adding fuel to a fire set inside the building, which ultimately caused almost a million dollars in damages to Target. Edwards was then captured on video surveillance entering the nearby Brit’s Pub, which, shortly after he went in, became engulfed in flames.”
Prosecutors leveraged both this footage and Edwards’s own electronic record of taking orders for items to loot from friends as well as bragging about his participation in the riot to secure a conviction.
Edwards, who describes himself on Facebook as a “loving, kind, respectful, gentlemen [sic]” has been convicted of child engagement and a criminal sex offence involving “force or coercion,” according to state records. The warrant issued for his arrest in the latter case includes accusations from a woman who reports that he forcibly raped her.
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Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
