by Alex Lloyd Gross
The last days of May 2020 and into the first week of June were filled with lawlessness in Philadelphia. This was a violent riot that was to protest George Floyd being killed by police in Minneapolis, over 1100 miles away. Rioting gripped the nation and in Philadelphia, it seemed as though criminals were able to get away with anything.
One convicted felon, David Elmakayes, 26, of Philadelphia, PA thought it would be a great idea to use explosives to blow up an ATM machine on the 200 block of East Westmoreland Street, on June 3, 2020. When he was arrested, he had three more explosive devices on him, as well as a gun. Being a convicted felon, he was not allowed to have a firearm.
After he was found guilty, David Elmakayes, learned his fate, He will spend the next 15 years in federal prison. after that he will be on supervised release for three years,
“This defendant took advantage of a volatile situation on the streets of Philadelphia to commit a dangerous act that could have injured many people,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Damaging property with an explosive device and illegally carrying a firearm are federal crimes which our Office will aggressively prosecute. Elmakayes will now spend 15 years in prison for these crimes.”
“This defendant possessed and recklessly used an explosive device which had the potential to cause significant damage and injure countless people,” said Matthew Varisco, Special Agent in charge of ATF’s Philadelphia Field Office. “ATF is committed to protecting our communities from harm and working with our law enforcement partners to disrupt violent activity.”