A Pennsylvania man, Cushmir McBride, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for his involvement in a ring that blew up ATM machines and stole over $400,000 during chaos, looting, and protests in Philadelphia following the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old citizen by a police officer. McBride, along with two others, Nasser McFall and Kamas Thompson, carried out a series of violent crimes by detonating explosives inside ATMs at various locations from October 2020 to March 2021. The group capitalized on the protests over the death of Walter Wallace Jr., using illegal explosive devices to steal money from ATMs.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives described the explosives used as “M-type devices” that contained enough explosives to cause serious bodily harm or death. The men stole around $417,000 through these criminal activities. The protests in Philadelphia following Wallace’s death were tense, with clashes between protesters and police. The family of Wallace settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the city for $2.5 million in 2021.
In total, more than 90 people were arrested during the protests, with several others facing charges related to the violence and looting that occurred. The ring led by McBride, McFall, and Thompson was part of a larger pattern of criminal behavior during the protests in Philadelphia, with individuals taking advantage of the chaotic situation to commit crimes.
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