Following a violent riot in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a district judge ordered that the bail for each arrested rioter be set at $1 million, as reported by Breitbart.
The riots broke out in the small southeastern town following the fatal police shooting of Ricardo Munoz, who charged at officers with a knife, as confirmed by the officers’ body camera footage. Munoz already had a dangerous criminal history, and was facing trial for allegedly attacking four different people with a knife last year.
But Black Lives Matter and Antifa nevertheless made Munoz a martyr and began causing violence and destroying police property in response to the shooting. Rioters threw numerous objects, including bricks and glass bottles, at officers, damaged police vehicles, and smashed the windows on a police precinct. After police declared a riot and attempted to disperse the crowd of over 100 using tear gas, 12 of the rioters were ultimately arrested.
The 12 arrested rioters all face felony charges such as arson, riot, and criminal conspiracy, and are currently being held at the Lancaster County Prison. One minor, a 16-year-old, is also facing charges in relation to the riot, including possession of instruments of crime, propulsion of missiles onto a roadway, and institutional vandalism.
Magisterial District Judge Bruce Roth made the order that each of their bails be set at $1 million, which drew criticism from far-left activists, as well as the state’s Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman (D-Pa.). A far-left so-called advocacy group, “Lancaster Stands Up,” declared that the bail was “a politically-motivated attack on the movement for police reform and accountability,” while Lieutenant Governor Fetterman called the decision “self-evidently unconstitutional.”