AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — A Cedar Park man arrested by Austin police May 30 for allegedly making a Molotov cocktail during protests now faces federal charges.
Cyril Laurence Lartigue, 25, was charged with possession and manufacturing of a prohibited weapon following his arrest, and Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced they have charged Lartigue with one count of possessing an unregistered destructive device.
If convicted, Lartigue faces 10 years in federal prison. He’s in federal custody.
“The constitutional line is clear,” U.S. Attorney John F. Bash said. “Speech and peaceful assembly are protected; violence is not. If you bring a Molotov cocktail onto the streets of Austin, you can expect to go to federal prison.”
Police said they witnessed Lartigue through an overhead HALO camera squatting behind a portable toilet near APD headquarters during the protest. He was seen emptying a beer bottle and refilling it with an unknown liquid and stuffing a piece of cloth into the top of the bottle and saturating the cloth with the unknown liquid.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, along with the Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety are all continuing to investigate the incident.
(Information from KXAN.com)
