MINNEAPOLIS -- A Flushing native accused of making Molotov cocktails to attack the Republic National Convention was sentenced Tuesday to three-and-a-half years in prison.
Matthew B. DePalma had pleaded guilty in October to possession of destructive devices and after prison will serve three years of supervised release.
At his sentencing, DePalma told the federal judge who sentenced him that while he felt it was important to protest eight years of a Republican presidency, didn't think through his actions, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
"My actions ... really make me no better than the people I was opposing," the 24-year-old told U.S. District Judge John Tunheim in Minneapolis. He likened his behavior to "an angry child hitting his brother."
"How dare I step up and try to replace something I saw as wrong with something equally unenlightened?" DePalma said.
According to the St. Paul paper, Tunheim called the offense "very serious," but said DePalma was an eloquent person who had shown remorse.
According to prosecutors, DePalma had made at least five Molotov cocktails by the time he was arrested Aug. 28 in a Minneapolis apartment. He had allegedly told an FBI informant he planned to attack the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, where the Republican convention was held, and described a plan to use the fire bombs on police.
He had traveled around the country, according to friends, after graduating Mott Middle College in December 2003, and after attending Flint Central High School and Flushing High School.
A self-proclaimed anarchist, DePalma had an online journal and a MySpace page, filled with angry posts, venting about being misunderstood.
Friends had said while DePalma was anti-government, they had never thought him to be violent.
Journal staff writer Shannon Murphy contributed to this report.
Flushing native Matthew B. DePalma sentenced in case of threats against Republican National Convention |