A Brooklyn Park man was sentenced to over two years in prison and over $30,000 restitution last week for his participation in the May 2020 riots and arson. According to the District of Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office, “Samuel Elliott Frey, 20, and co-defendant McKenzy Ann DeGidio Dunn, 21, joined other individuals who had gathered near the Great Health and Nutrition store located at 1360 University Avenue West, in St. Paul.”
The group, including Frey and Dunn, then proceeded to set fire to the business. It is unclear how many individuals were in the group or if any others had been caught or charged.
The Great Health and Nutrition store sustained an unknown amount of damages in the fires caused by Frey. The District of Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office explained that Frey used hand sanitizer as a fire accelerant, after lighting a storage shelf on fire.
Dunn, the co-conspirator, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson in May 2021 and was sentenced to three years of probation and $31,578 in restitution.
Frey pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit arson in July 2021 was charged in January.
Another Minnesota man was recently sentenced to over nine years in prison for similar crimes, that occurred just a few months later. Victor Devon Edwards was convicted of arson and property damage during the riots that occurred in August 2020, causing almost one million dollars in damages to a Minneapolis Target.
These are just the latest in the prosecutions of those who participated in the arson, looting, and destruction during the 2020 riots following the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake.
During the riots in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Third Precinct was burned, as well as 700 other businesses, sustaining an estimated $55 million dollars in damages, in just the first wave of rioting in early 2020.
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Hayley Feland is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun and The Wisconsin Daily Star | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Steve Frey” by Sherburne County Jail.
