St. Paul man gets more than 8 years in prison for arson, riot at Target HQ

A man convicted of burning, looting and damaging stores, including Target's headquarters, in Minneapolis in August 2020 has been sentenced to prison.

Victor Devon Edwards, 32, of St. Paul, has been sentenced to 100 months (8.33 years) in prison followed by two years of supervised release for his role in the Aug. 26, 2020, incident, the U.S. Attorney's Office said on Wednesday.

That day there was rioting and looting in downtown Minneapolis following the suicide of a homicide suspect on Nicollet Mall, which sparked false rumors on social media that the suspect had been shot dead by police.

The unrest happened three months after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd, sparking several nights of rioting and unrest. 

During the unrest, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Edwards — sometimes joined by two other co-defendants Shador Tommie Cortez Jackson and Leroy Lemonte Perry Williams — "engaged in acts of rioting, looting, and other property damage."

He and Jackson stole women's purses and other items from Saks Off Fifth starting around 9 p.m. A couple of hours later, Edwards used a construction sign to break into Target's headquarters at 1000 Nicollet Mall. Jackson started a fire while inside, and Edwards added fuel to it, authorities say.

Edwards also was captured on surveillance video going inside Brit's Pub, which was "engulfed" in flames shortly after he went inside, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. 

At one point, the charges state, someone texted Edwards to ask him what he was doing downtown, and he replied: “Lootin'," prosecutors said. He also bragged about his participation in the unrest and took orders from friends for items to loot. 

A federal grand jury convicted Edwards on Aug. 12 of one count of riot and one count of arson.

Jackson was sentenced in June to 33 months (2.75 years) in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit arson at the Target headquarters. 

Williams also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. It's unclear if he has been sentenced.