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Man pleads guilty to damaging police car, assaulting horses during Pittsburgh protests

PITTSBURGH — A 25-year-old Crafton man pleaded guilty to damaging a police vehicle and assaulting police horses during last year’s Pittsburgh protests.

Raekwon Blankenship will be sentenced on Aug. 12. He is the first person to plead to charges related to the May 30 protests that sparked rioting and looting through Downtown Pittsburgh following the death of George Floyd.

Investigators said he was seen at the protest holding a stop sign and using it hit mounted police units. He allegedly then threw it “javelin style” into a police cruiser’s windshield. Police also said he jumped onto a department’s SUV after throwing the sign. That was the same SUV that was set on fire a short time later.