Man Sentenced In Looting Of Downtown Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS – A St. Paul man was sentenced Thursday to 100 months in prison — or eight years — for looting and damaging stores and businesses in downtown Minneapolis in August 2020.

Victor D. Edwards, 32, was convicted by a federal jury of one count of riot and one count of arson on Aug. 12, 2021.

On Aug. 26, 2020, Edwards drove to downtown Minneapolis following a city-wide curfew to join a large crowd that had gathered following false rumors surrounding the death of a man on Nicollet Mall earlier that evening.

Edwards was captured on video surveillance participating in the rioting and looting at Saks Off Fifth, Caribou Coffee, Target Headquarters, and Brit’s Pub on Nicollet Mall, authorities said.

A video showed him helping to break into the Target Headquarters building and adding fuel to a fire set inside the building, which ultimately caused almost a million dollars in damages to Target.

Edwards was then captured on video surveillance entering the nearby Brit’s Pub, which, shortly after he went in, became engulfed in flames, police said.

The next morning, Edwards took a video of himself flashing a large amount of cash and saying, "On the looting side..." He also admitted that he got “MK purses and money” in text messages with his friends.