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3d ago

Pro-Palestine Activist Pleads Not Guilty in NYPD Arson Case, Faces State Misdemeanor Charge

His federal arraignment Tuesday ended with a not guilty plea followed by an immediate state misdemeanor re-arrest

Jakhi Lodgson-McCray, 21 (inset), has surrendered to face charges he torched 11 parked NYPD vehicles last month. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News; NYPD)
FILE - A line of police cars are parked along a street in Times Square, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, in New York.
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Overview

  • He faces federal arson charges carrying a mandatory 5–20 year prison term after allegedly setting fire to 10 NYPD vehicles and a trailer in a locked Bushwick lot on June 12.
  • He surrendered July 21 in Brooklyn federal court with his lawyer and mother before pleading not guilty in the Eastern District of New York.
  • Investigators relied on surveillance footage, fingerprints lifted from sunglasses and fire starters recovered at the scene to link him to the crime.
  • A joint task force of the NYPD, ATF, FDNY marshals and U.S. Marshals Service tracked him for weeks and coordinated his voluntary surrender.
  • Immediately after his federal appearance, NYPD officers re-arrested him on a state misdemeanor stemming from a 2024 Columbia University vandalism incident.