A Pennsylvania judge showed no mercy to a group of protesters in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who were accused of rioting. Their bail was set at $1 million each in the wake of a police shooting of a mentally ill man.
Lancaster police arrested a dozen people and one juvenile for staging the alleged riots around 3 a.m. Monday, which prompted police to deploy tear gas at the crowd, the New York Post reports.
The overnight clash with protesters and police came on the heels of the death of Ricardo Munoz, the mentally ill 27-year-old who was seen on bodycam footage charging with a knife in hand at a cop. The officer shot and killed Munoz Sunday afternoon just outside his mother’s house in downtown Lancaster.
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The mob marched from the scene of the shooting to the police station, allegedly chucking glass bottles, rocks, bricks, gallon jugs filled with liquid and plastic road barricades at cops, according to the police.
A county vehicle parked in front of the station was also damaged, police said.
Twelve adults are facing multiple felony and misdemeanor charges, including arson, riot, institutional vandalism and criminal conspiracy.
A 16-year-old boy was also busted on riot, disorderly conduct, possession of instruments of crime, possession of a small amount of marijuana, propulsion of missiles onto a roadway and institutional vandalism charges.
Magisterial District Judge Bruce A. Roth set bail for nine of the defendants at $1 million each, with court records showing all were unable to post. They’re all currently being held at the Lancaster County Prison.
The three other adults were either given different large bail amounts or probation.
Social justice advocacy group Lancaster Stands Up claimed two of the adults arrested were working as “medics” at the Munoz protest when they were arrested.
“The absurdly high bail amounts indicate that what we’re seeing is not a measured pursuit of justice, but a politically motivated attack on the movement for police reform and accountability,” the group tweeted.
The officer involved in the Munoz shooting was responding to a 911 call placed by his mother, stating that Munoz was getting “aggressive” with her and trying to break into her home, police said. Munoz was set to go to trial in October for allegedly slashing four people last year.
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