AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man has been sentenced to six years in prison for setting fire to the Travis County Democratic Party office in downtown Austin.
Federal court records show Ryan Faircloth, 31, of San Antonio was sentenced Friday to 72 months in prison after pleading guilty in January to arson for throwing a Molotov cocktail into the office in September.
An attorney for Faircloth did not immediately return a phone call for comment Saturday. Faircloth, who was arrested days after the attack, had faced up to 20 years in prison before reaching a plea agreement in the case.
Investigators have said the attack was politically motivated and Faircloth left a note at the scene that stated “Consider this a ”light” warning,” according to court documents.
“Violence in the political process is unacceptable,” U.S. Attorney Ashley Hoff said in a statement following sentencing Friday. “We all must respect the rule of law.”
No one was in the office when it was attacked around 2 a.m. and only a small stack of papers caught fire, officials have said, and the blaze was quickly extinguished by employees of a neighboring business.
