Gainesville Men Burn Cops’ Car After Protest

Five Gainesville men orchestrated and executed the fiery destruction of a Gainesville Police Department patrol vehicle under the cover of a peaceful protest, federal court records reveal. Jesse James Smallwood, Delveccho Waller, Jr., Bruce Thompson, Judah Coleman Bailey, and Dashun Martin have all been sentenced on federal arson conspiracy charges after targeting a marked police car parked at an officer’s residence on June 1, 2020.

According to U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine, the group gathered at a downtown Gainesville pharmacy parking lot, already armed with a flare gun and cartridges brought by Judah Coleman Bailey, 21, of Gainesville. There, they plotted the attack—knowing the location of the parked patrol vehicle—and agreed that someone would shoot a flare into it. Smallwood, 25, of Gainesville, drove the group to the apartment complex where the car was parked. They masked up, Bailey fired the flare through the rear windshield, and the vehicle erupted in flames.

The arsonists fled in Smallwood’s car—but not before a witness caught sight of them and their vehicle, leading to their swift arrest. The FBI Atlanta Field Office, led by Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker, emphasized that while peaceful protest is protected, violent opportunists exploiting civil unrest will be hunted down. “We are not focused on peaceful protests, but instead concentrating on identifying, investigating and disrupting those individuals who are taking advantage of the protests to incite violence and engage in criminal activity,” Hacker stated.

Sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones. Bailey, 21, of Gainesville, was sentenced on June 30, 2021, to one year, nine months; Waller, Jr., 23, of Gainesville, received the same sentence on August 26, 2021. Smallwood, 25, was sentenced on November 16, 2021, to one year, nine months. Martin, 24, of Gainesville, got one year, five months on November 15, 2021. Thompson, 23, of Oakwood, Georgia, was sentenced on August 26, 2021, to just over one year, two months. All pleaded guilty.

Each defendant was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $3,678.17 in restitution to the Gainesville Police Department. The fire caused significant damage, not just to property but to community trust. Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish condemned the act: “These defendants did not peacefully protest, rather, they took this opportunity to target one of our officers at his residence. This type of violence and destruction will not be tolerated in our community.”

The FBI-Gainesville Field Office, Gainesville Police Department, and Gainesville Fire Department led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Radics prosecuted. The case was brought under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal initiative targeting violent crime in communities wracked by civil tension.