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Maple Heights man pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit arson in 2020 downtown Cleveland protest

20-year-old Timothy Goodner pled guilty to conspiracy to commit arson for his role in the protests in downtown Cleveland in 2020.

CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.

A 20-year-old Maple Heights man has pled guilty to his role in the protest that turned violent in downtown Cleveland on May 30, 2020.

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According to the United States Department of Justice, Timothy Goodner has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit arson during the demonstrations last May.

According to court documents, Goodner helped ignite a fire inside of the Shaia & PPR parking booth located on West 3rd Street. Images and video from the incident allege that Goodner placed a cardboard box inside the booth to help accelerate the fire, which began when an unidentified individual used a lighter to ignite a roll of paper towels and cardboard boxes. Both the unidentified individual and Goodner could be seen accelerating the fire with additional cardboard boxes and paper towels.

A sentencing date has yet to be set. Goodner's sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Chaos in Downtown Cleveland erupted on May 30, 2020 when an "I Can't Breathe" rally to honor George Floyd in Downtown Cleveland turned violent with businesses across the area being broken into and looted. The protests occurred five days after Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on his kneck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. Chauvin was convicted of charges of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder earlier this year.

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