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Matthew Scott White Sentenced To 6 Years For St. Paul Rental Car Store Arson During Unrest

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 31-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced to six years in prison for setting fire to a St. Paul car rental business during the unrest following the murder of George Floyd.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Matthew Scott White also received three years of supervised release in connection to the arson on May 28, 2020 at an Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Court documents state surveillance camera footage shows White going inside the business, igniting a fire inside an office and feeding it papers and other items. He is also said to have told witnesses outside the building while he exited that it was "going up."

This conviction was one of several made so far in the 164 arsons committed in the days following Floyd's murder on May 25, 2020. Now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted in April of two murder counts and a manslaughter charge after he knelt on Floyd's neck for almost 10 minutes. Destructive unrest followed for about a week afterwards in parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

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