Defendant Pleads Guilty to Charges Related to May 2020 Civil Unrest in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY – Jackson Stuart Tamowski Patton, 27, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to one felony count of civil disorder, charged in a felony information, for his role in the burning of a Salt Lake City Police Department patrol car during the civil unrest which occurred in Salt Lake City on May 30, 2020.

In the plea agreement, Patton admitted that, on May 30, 2020, he was protesting the killing of George Floyd when protesters turned violent and overturned a Salt Lake City Police Department patrol car. Patton admitted that law enforcement officers were lawfully engaged in the performance of their official duties during the commission of the civil disorder and that he participated in the burning of the overturned patrol car with the intent and purpose of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement officers  Patton also admitted to moving a burning cloth into the interior of the overturned patrol car.

Sentencing is set for August 11, 2021. Patton faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years in prison, a payment of $2,500.000 in agreed upon restitution, and a term of supervised release of three years.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. Special Agents from the ATF and the FBI, and detectives from the Salt Lake City Police Department, conducted the investigation.