53-Year-Old Man Sentenced To Probation For Leaving Bag Of Explosives After 2020 Riots

Matthew Michanowicz, a man from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 18 months probation time served, and three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to leaving a bag of explosives after the riots, which overtook the streets last year, United States Attorney Cindy K. Chung announced Monday.

Judge Donetta W. Ambrose is the one who imposed the sentence on Michanowicz, a former resident of Pittsburgh.

Michanowicz, 53, left a camouflage backpack in downtown Pittsburgh. According to the Justice Department, he had illegally filled it with "homemade destructive devices," the bag was placed on or around May 31, 2020, at the PNC Plaza.

According to police, Michanowicz went towards PNC Plaza riding on a bicycle before stopping in the area. He was said to have looked around before heading into the bushes and planting the bag. He illegally possessed firearms, consisting of three destructive devices. All were not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

Michanowicz stated that he was in the area, intending to survey damage from recent riots in the city. Despite photographs and video evidence, he did not admit to planting the bag and owning the improvised weapons.

He was sentenced to 18 months of time served, with three years of supervised release, wherein the first 180 days will keep him in home detention.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, and the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office were involved in the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

Approximately 44 people in the riot were arrested, and four police were reported hospitalized. The mob with at least 1,000 people set two police vehicles on fire. Police put in place an 8:30 pm to 6:00 am curfew over the weekend to reduce protests.

Pittsburgh saw the worst riots reported in decades last year after the murder of George Floyd, an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit bill.