Long Beach man sentenced to over 2 years in federal prison for possessing Molotov cocktail at DTLA anti-ICE protest

A 28-year-old Long Beach man was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on Wednesday for possessing a Molotov cocktail during a downtown Los Angeles anti-immigration enforcement protest last year.

Wrackkie Quiogue pleaded guilty earlier to one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device. He has been in federal custody since June 2025.

Protests erupted following a series of federal immigration enforcement operations in the Los Angeles area, which began in June 2025.

During a June 8, 2025, protest in the Civic Center area of downtown Los Angeles, some people in the crowd allegedly threw rocks and bottles at law enforcement, leading to the Los Angeles Police Department declaring an unlawful assembly.

According to federal prosecutors, a police officer saw Quiogue at that protest with a Molotov cocktail, a glass bottle containing ethanol with a piece of cloth soaked in ethanol, acting as a wick.  

When approached, police said Quiogue ran off and threw the unlit Molotov cocktail into the air. "LAPD officers subdued and arrested Quiogue, who was holding a lighter in his right hand," a Department of Justice news release said.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in an earlier statement that possessing a Molotov cocktail or another destructive device is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison. 

"We will not relent in dispensing swift justice to criminals who take advantage of our country's freedoms to engage in lawlessness," Essayli said.