Quick Hit: Fayetteville Market House arson conviction upheld
The appeal in the case of USA v. Pittman has concluded
Charles Pittman, the man who admitted to burning down Fayetteville's Market House during the 2020 Black Lives Matter/George Floyd riots, will not have his conviction overturned.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's conviction of Pittman, who was ordered to serve a five-year prison sentence.
The case had significance as the Market House was a designated national historic landmark. The Market House at one time in history had been a slave auction site.
Pittman, and another man, Andrew Salvarani Garcia-Smith, were caught in the act on camera by media outlets during the May 2020 riots.
Pittman was photographed by Carolina Public Press pouring gas inside the Market House and setting it on fire while Garcia-Smith attempted to throw a molotov cocktail, which backfired and Garcia-Smith's shirt caught fire.
Garcia-Smith was identified and apprehended after he went to a hospital for treatment of his burns.
Pittman pled guilty in September 2020 to malicious burning of a building and inciting a riot and Garcia-Smith pled guilty in November of that year to malicious burning of a building.
Pittman was captured on camera with a gasoline container, which he took inside the Market House to use to set the fire.
Two other females were wanted in connection with the arson and the ATF offered a $5,000 reward. I did not find an updated status of these women related to the case.
There were multiple Facebook videos associated with the Market House Fire at the time including a video of Garcia-Smith essentially lighting himself on fire. Now, there are only a few still posted on Facebook. Here's one of them.