CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been charged in federal court with inciting rioting involving multiple incidents of property damage and looting in the city last summer.
James Massey, 22, is charged with one count of “using a facility of interstate commerce to incite a riot.” According to a criminal complaint, Massey on Aug. 9, 2020, posted multiple videos and messages on Facebook calling for people to travel to downtown Chicago to engage in property damage and looting. In the early morning hours of Aug. 10, 2020, dozens of people damaged and looted retail stores, predominantly in downtown Chicago and the city’s Near North Side.
Massey was arrested this morning on the federal charge and was ordered released on bond with electronic monitoring and subject to a curfew.
According to the complaint, Massey sent Facebook messages to numerous individuals directing them to meet at a certain location in Chicago to travel together to the downtown area. Several people responded to the messages throughout the night to discuss, among other things, the location of property damage and looting activity, the complaint states. In one of the messages, a Facebook user allegedly stated to others in the group, “We like 13 cars deep.”
“WE LIE TOGETHER WE DIE TOGETHER” — “Lets get ready to steal b—-.”
“ATTENTION ATTENTION LOTTING [sic] START AT 12am tonight … WE WILL NOT BE F—ING UP THE SOUTH SIDE EAST SIDE OR WEST SIDE DOWNTOWN AREA AND UP NORTH AREA ONLY BRING YA TOOLS SKI MASK AND GLOVES #LETSGOOOOO.”
One of the locations discussed in the Facebook messages was a marijuana dispensary in the 900 block of West Weed Street on the Near North Side of Chicago. At approximately 1:00 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2020, several individuals broke into the dispensary by smashing a window with tools they had retrieved from the trunk of Massey’s vehicle, which was parked in the dispensary’s parking lot, the complaint states.
Another incident cited in the complaint occurred at a retail store in the 800 block of North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. At approximately 1:25 a.m. on August 10, 2020, Massey approached the store with a tire iron while another individual broke a store window, the complaint states. Massey and several others entered the store, stole numerous coats, and returned to Massey’s vehicle, the complaint states. Shortly thereafter, an individual allegedly wrote to the Facebook group, “We just hit the [partial name of retail store].”
Massey and others later looted a convenience store in the city’s South Loop neighborhood after individuals broke windows to gain entry and then broke display counters inside, the complaint states. Shortly before 6:00 a.m., Massey and several others looted a cell phone store in the West Loop neighborhood after offenders broke the side door of the store to gain entrance, the complaint states.
