U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Mackenzie Drechsler, age 20, originally from the Town of Ontario, who was convicted of rioting for her role in violent protests held in the City of Rochester in May 2020, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to serve one year and one day in prison, two years of supervised release, and restitution totaling $8,674, $3,775 to the City of Rochester, and $4,899 to the N.Y. State Attorney General’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassie M. Kocher, who handled the case, stated that on May 30, 2020, Rochester Police Department (RPD) officers were assigned to assist with crowd control during protests scheduled at the Public Safety Building (PSB) on Exchange Boulevard. During the late-afternoon/early evening, those protests, being held in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, turned violent and resulted in vandalism, damaged property, looting, and fires.
At approximately 6:00 p.m. on May 30th in downtown Rochester, Dreschler assisted others in attempting to light fabric on fire. The fabric was stuffed into the gas tank of a parked car belonging to the City of Rochester Family Crisis Intervention Team.
At approximately 6:20 p.m., the FACIT car began to smoke and shortly thereafter became engulfed in flames.
The car was a total loss.
Dreschler also set fire to an official vehicle owned by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, after crouching down, placing cardboard inside the vehicle and then walking away. Approximately one minute later, smoke began billowing from the car, and as the fire grew, the car became engulfed in flames. The car was a total loss.
Following her actions in the burning of the two cars, Drechsler also participated in breaking glass during looting that took place.
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