Tacoma woman admits torching Seattle police cars in protest

Associated Press

SEATTLE – A Tacoma woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to torching five Seattle police vehicles during racial justice protests and rioting that followed the killing of George Floyd last year.

Margaret Aislinn Channon, 26, was arrested nearly two weeks after she was caught on videos using fire and aerosol cans to spark flames in the police vehicles in downtown Seattle on May 30, 2020.

As part of a plea agreement, she acknowledged she also smashed a window at a Verizon store and an electronic cash register at a sandwich shop, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release.

Her attorneys and the government agreed to recommend a five-year prison term when she is sentenced by Judge John Coughenour in January – the mandatory minimum for arson under federal law. Under the plea agreement Channon is also liable to pay for the damage she caused.