ATLANTA — A man will spend nearly three years in prison after prosecutors said he vandalized the Atlanta Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, breaking windows and throwing a Molotov cocktail during a 2020 protest.
Richard Tyler Hunsinger, 29, is currently a resident of Fairfax, Va. but was living in Atlanta during the time of the protest. He plead guilty to assaulting a federal officer and destruction of government property in October 2022.
The charges stem from a July 25, 2020 protest that he promoted entitled "Rally Against Fascism." Around 11:30 p.m. a crowd gathered at the Department of Homeland Security ICE field office, commonly known as the DHS building.
Prosecutors said Hunsinger was among the demonstrators wearing dark clothing, gloves and face coverings who breached the fences of the building and defaced the building.
"Hunsinger smashed at least four windows of the front entry of the DHS building using a hammer. He later lit and threw a Molotov cocktail into the facility," a news release from the Department of Justice Northern District of Georgia details.
Prosecutors said this is how they were able to connect Hunsinger to the case. Law enforcement traced his DNA from a broken bottle made to create the explosive. Damage to the building and clean-up costs were more than $78,000, the DOJ said.
Hunsinger was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison followed by three years of supervised release and eight months of home confinement. He will be required to pay restitution -- the amount will be determined at a later date, attorneys said.
