Crafton man charged in George Floyd protests in Pittsburgh gets time served on federal count
A Crafton man already serving time in state prison for his actions during the May 30, 2020, George Floyd protests in Downtown Pittsburgh was ordered Thursday to time served in his federal case.
Raekwon Blankenship, 25, appeared before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab via video conference. In addition to time served, Schwab also ordered Blankenship to serve three years of supervised release.
Blankenship pleaded guilty in June to a single count of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder.
That plea followed another in state court in May to two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of criminal mischief, one count of riot, two counts of taunting police animals and one count of propulsion of missiles.
In that case, Blankenship, 25, was ordered to serve 2-1/2 to 5 years in prison. He has been in custody since June 2020.
Following last year’s death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, hundreds of people in Pittsburgh marched peacefully Downtown on the afternoon of May 30. As the crowd neared PPG Paints Arena, one man started vandalizing a Pittsburgh police car. Several members of the crowd then joined in, and ultimately, the vehicle was set on fire and destroyed.
Investigators said that during the protest, Blankenship wielded a construction sign and was caught on video stomping on a police car, poking at a police horse and throwing the sign into the windshield of another police car.
Defense attorney Kelvin Morris asked for probation, telling Schwab that his client had already been sentenced in state court for the same conduct and that he’d accepted responsibility for his actions.
In addition, he noted in court filings that Blankenship has completed several programs during his time in Allegheny County Jail and is enrolled in a GED program.
He previously worked as a cook at several restaurants.
During the hearing, Blankenship apologized and said he wished he would have done things differently.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of "Death by Cyanide." She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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