Former lawmaker’s stepson set fire to a dumpster at protest, Washington officials say
A group of protesters marched from a park into downtown Seattle while destroying private property and a police car in late September, according to documents from the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The “anarchist group, Every Night Direct Demonstration (ENDD)” eventually moved back toward the Seattle Police Department’s East precinct, where they blocked an intersection with trash cans and dumpsters to set up a “barricade between them and police officers at the East precinct,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
A fire was set inside one of the dumpsters and detectives zeroed in on an “unknown subject” who was seen “squirting what appeared to be lighter fluid onto the dumpsters and trash cans.”
The suspect was later identified as Jacob Greenburg, the stepson of Laura Ruderman — a former member of the House of Representatives.
She told authorities that he’s “basically a good kid, straight ‘A’ student,” according to KOMO.
Detectives say they witnessed Greenburg squirt lighter fluid on the fires multiple times.
“Each time he squirted the liquid, the flames instantly grew larger until they consumed the dumpsters, cans and nearly one third of the length of the intersection and reached seven to eight feet high,” Officer Stephen Knapp wrote in the court documents.
When officers tried to arrest Greenburg, he took off but “was quickly captured and placed into custody” on suspicion of arson, according to the affidavit.
Greenburg is also named as a suspect for an “arson attack on the East precinct building” that happened in early September. Greenburg is accused of throwing a flaming molotov cocktail over the precinct’s fence “in an attempt to set it on fire with officers inside.”
Documents state that police objected to his release because he “is a fixture at recent riots in the City of Seattle.”
“There is a high probability that Greenburg will commit additional arson and add to the nightly violent riots in Seattle if released,” Knapp wrote.
Greenburg was released from the King County Jail shortly after he was booked on $20,000 bail, according to the jail’s records. He is charged with arson.
“Let’s remember what the police think they have, is that in this chaotic situation with dozens, hundreds of people that have very generic clothing, that doesn’t mean they have the right person,” said Jason Lantz, Greenburg’s attorney, according to KOMO. “They made a snap judgment.”
Greenburg appeared in court on Sept. 28 with his stepmother, who spoke on his behalf, KOMO reported.
“I’ve served the state in the legislature, we will make sure he follows all the provisions,” said Ruderman, who served three terms between 1999 and 2005, according to KOMO.
