By Basant El-Faramawy
An Alabama man has been charged with federal arson for setting fire to the Senatobia, Mississippi police headquarters on Halloween, authorities said Monday.
Arson Charge and Investigation
Garrick Rawls, a self-described civil rights activist from Huntsville, Alabama, faces a federal arson charge in connection with the early Saturday blaze that damaged the police department building.
According to a federal affidavit, Rawls attended a candlelight vigil for Wiley the night before the fire. Security footage shows a masked individual smashing a window, dispersing a canister, and igniting it, causing an explosion that set the suspect ablaze. The suspect fled on foot.
Investigators recovered a partially burned boot, latex gloves, a hammer, and a gas can nozzle at the scene. Community members helped identify Rawls, who was found in Huntsville on Monday with a large bandage and a limp, the affidavit states.
Context: Fatal Shooting Sparks Protests
The fire occurred amid ongoing protests over the June fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley by a Senatobia police officer during a shoplifting call response. The officer fired into a moving vehicle, killing the boy and seriously injuring a passenger. A state investigation cleared the officer of criminal wrongdoing, but the family disputes the findings.
A federal public defender for Rawls did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
