A Long Beach man faces sentencing Wednesday for possessing a Molotov cocktail during a protest last summer in downtown Los Angeles stemming from federal illegal immigration enforcement operations.
Wrackkie Quiogue, 28, pleaded guilty in November 2025 to a single federal count of possession of an unregistered destructive device, which carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A Molotov cocktail is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a breakable container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a fuse, typically a glass bottle filled with flammable liquids sealed with a cloth wick.
An affidavit filed with the charge states that Quiogue possessed the handmade explosive on June 8 while holding a lighter during protests near federal buildings in downtown Los Angeles. The document says Los Angeles Police Department officers saw Quiogue with the device and quickly arrested him, but he threw the weapon as he was attempting to flee.
“When protesting crosses the line into violence, the penalties will be severe,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement when Quiogue was charged in L.A. federal court.
Essayli said that an attack such as the one described in the complaint “could have resulted in life-altering or life-ending injuries to police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and innocent bystanders. We will not relent in dispensing swift justice to criminals who take advantage of our country’s freedoms to engage in lawlessness.”