Man Sentenced In Molotov Cocktail Attack On Apple Valley WSC: DOJ

APPLE VALLEY, MN — A man has been sentenced to five years in prison for throwing Molotov Cocktails into the Dakota County Western Service Center that damaged the building, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota announced Thursday.

In a guilty plea, Garrett Patrick Ziegler, 25 of Long Lake, admitted to driving himself and the co-defendant in the case, Fornandous Cortez Henderson, to the Western Service Center in Apple Valley. This center houses multiple court facilities as well as a U.S. Passport center.

Ziegler admitted in his guilty plea that he purchased and provided items used to make Molotov Cocktails in May, according to officials. The items included things like mason jars, pushpins, high-proof alcohol, bandanas and more, officials said.

Ziegler said that he and Henderson broke windows using baseball bats before throwing the Molotov Cocktails into the building, only some of which ignited and caused damage to the center, officials said. The pair also tried to start other fires at the center by pouring flammable liquids and throwing unlit Molotov cocktails in and around the broken windows before trying to set the liquids on fire, officials said.

Henderson chose the Western Service Center because he had had court appearances there in the past, officials said. The two men were also angry about the killing of George Floyd and targeted the center because of its ties to law enforcement, officials said.

The investigation for this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Apple Valley Police Department, and the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office. Judge Susan Richard Nelson carried out Ziegler’s sentence.