N.J. man admits to setting cop cars ablaze in Philly, inciting riot in Atlantic City during 2020 racial injustice protests

A New Jersey man who bragged on Facebook that he “blew up cop cars in Philly” during the May 2020 racial justice protests pleaded guilty Friday as part of a deal that spared him a seven-year mandatory minimum federal prison sentence.

Carlos Matchett, 32, of Atlantic City, is the fourth defendant to admit in court he set police cars ablaze during the mass demonstration that erupted outside City Hall in response to the police killing of George Floyd.

But unlike the others, who were accused only with single incidents of arson amid the May 30 demonstration, Matchett was also charged with inciting a riot in Atlantic City the following day after police encountered him standing in the middle of the street, shouting obscenities at officers, and encouraging others to join him in looting nearby outlet stores.

“LETS START a RIOT,” he posted to Facebook two hours before that arrest.

But Matchett exhibited none of that confrontational style as he appeared before Chief U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sánchez during a hearing Friday in federal court in Philadelphia.

He answered with curt and polite replies as Sánchez walked him through a series of standard questions to confirm he understood the terms of his plea agreement.

Asked whether prosecutors had accurately summarized his actions that weekend, Matchett replied: “It’s accurate.”

As part of that deal, prosecutors agreed to drop the arson charges — and their accompanying seven-year mandatory minimum prison term — in exchange for Matchett’s guilty plea to one felony count each of obstructing law enforcement during a civil disorder and travel to incite a riot for the New Jersey offense.

He now faces up to five years in prison on each count at a sentencing scheduled in February.

So far, federal judges in Philadelphia have proved reluctant to harshly punish those who have admitted to crimes stemming from recent protests.

In August, U.S District Judge John R. Padova sentenced Josie Robotin, 26, of Willow Grove, to a day in prison — or time served — after she was arrested carrying a backpack filled with what prosecutors described as a Molotov cocktail, several firecrackers, lighters, and a container filled with flammable liquid while leaving a protest in support of trans prisoners outside the Federal Detention Center in Center City.

Robotin said she’d been carrying those items not to commit vandalism but rather for a bonfire she planned to attend later that night. The judge questioned why prosecutors were seeking two years in prison for a woman he described as “engaged at the time in a fair exercise of freedom of speech.”

Matchett’s plea agreement for his Philadelphia crimes mirrors similar deals struck with three others who have pleaded guilty to torching police cars during the May 30 Floyd demonstrations.

And so far, those whose cases have reached the punishment phase have received shorter sentences than those sought by prosecutors.

Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal, a Philadelphia-area massage therapist, was sentenced to 2 ½ years in July, after she was caught on video using a piece of flaming barricade to ignite a squad car. Prosecutors had pushed for three to four years.

That same month, Ayoub Tabri, 25, of Arlington, Va., received a prison sentence of 364 days, despite prosecutors calling for a three- to four-year sentence.

But the calculus could prove different for Matchett because of the additional charges in New Jersey.

In court Friday, Matchett admitted he set fire to an overturned police car outside City Hall.

Wearing gloves and sunglasses and carrying a crowbar, he said, he sprayed the car with lighter fluid before throwing the whole bottle into the burning car.

“We blew up cop cars in philly … the ones you seen on the news,” he wrote on his Facebook page two days after the incident. “I had gasline [sic.]”

He also acknowledged he livestreamed his efforts to encourage looting in Atlantic City and was carrying a folding knife, a hatchet, and a jar of gasoline at the time of his arrest in that city.

Charges are still pending against three others accused of setting police cars ablaze in Philadelphia during the demonstration.

One of those defendants — Lester Fulton Smith, 27, of Philadelphia — has pleaded guilty and is set to be sentenced next month.

The two others — prominent Philadelphia activist and social studies teacher Anthony “Ant” Smith, 31 and Khalif Miller, 26, of Philadelphia — are scheduled to face trial later this year.