A Galesburg man has been sentenced to nearly 9 years in federal prison for setting fire in a cell phone store in Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd. 29-year-old Matthew L. Rupert was sentenced Tuesday to 105 months in prison, which will be followed by three years of supervised release. In a release from the Department of Justice, court documents referenced posted messages to Rupert's Facebook on May 28, 2020, about going to Minneapolis to riot. He announced he had come to the city to "riot" and is depicted handing out artillery-shell fireworks, encouraging violence against law enforcement officers, actively damaging property, breaking into buildings, and looting businesses. He and several others looted a Sprint store and doused the interior with lighter fluid. As he fled the building he stated, "I lit it on fire!" The store was said to have sustained significant damage as a result of the fire. "Matthew Rupert chose to drive more than 400 miles from his home in Illinois to Minnesota to engage in violence and destruction, all while broadcasting it for the world to see. Peaceful protest was not on his agenda," said Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk. "Arson, looting, property damage, and the glorification of it, will not be tolerated. Today, justice has caught up with Mr. Rupert as he must now account for his crimes." This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI Minneapolis Field Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), with assistance from the FBI Chicago Field Office, the FBI Springfield Field Office, and the Chicago Police Department. The Galesburg Police Department assisted in the investigation of this case and is pleased to see justice served through the collaboration of many agencies.