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Kadeem A. Dockery, 31, is the last of four defendants sentenced in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 31, 2020 protest in Trenton.
Video captured by surveillance cameras and personal cellphones helped authorities identify Dockery, who was arrested a little over two months later, and Killian F Melecio, 22, of Columbus, NJ.
Rather than face trial, Dockery took a deal from the government, pleading guilty in May 2021 to attempting to obstruct, impede, or interfere with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder.
SEE: Final Defendant In Trenton Police Car Firebombing Takes Guilty Plea In Federal Court
Dockery joins three other federally-convicted defendants:
- Earlja J. Dudley, 30, of Trenton, who was sentenced in March 2022 to 30 months in federal prison;
- Melecio, who was sentenced in June 2021 to 28 months;
- Justin D. Spry, 23, of South Plainfield, who was sentenced in September 2021 to 24 months.
The incident followed large-scale protests in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Although the protest in Trenton was peaceful earlier in the day, violence erupted later, as a mob spread down East State Street, smashing windows, looting stores and attacking city police vehicles.
Dockery is seen in video footage “lighting an explosive device and throw it through the open front driver’s side window of a Trenton Police Department vehicle,” U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
Dockery then “removed his shirt and handed it to Melecio, who attempted to stuff the shirt in the gas tank of the police vehicle and ignite it,” the U.S. attorney said.
Melecio fled and Dockery “lit another explosive device and threw it over the Trenton police vehicle at the arresting officers,” Honig said, adding that it “exploded at their feet.”
Investigators identified Melecio and Dockery through what they called "distinctive tattoos" seen on the video footage:
BUSTED! Tattoos Help ID Men In Trenton Protest Firebombings, FBI Says
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In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti sentenced Dockery to three years of supervised release.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI and officers with the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark with the investigation leading to the arrests and pleas, secured by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander E. Ramey and Michelle Gasparian of her Criminal Division in Trenton.
He also thanked Trenton police, New Jersey State Police and officers with the state Department of Corrections for their assistance.
Handling the case for the government are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander E. Ramey and Michelle S. Gasparian of Sellinger's Criminal Division in Trenton.
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