Delaware County Man Pleads Guilty to 6 Explosive Incidents
Co-Defendant Sentenced for Setting Off Explosives Inside Target, Wawas and Wells Fargo During October 2020 Civil Unrest in Philadelphia Area
PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Cushmir McBride, 24, of Yeadon, Pennsylvania, entered a plea of guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Gene E.K. Pratter for conspiracy to maliciously damage property used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive, and aiding and abetting, as well as five separate counts alleging maliciously damaging property used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive.
In addition, on Jan. 11, Nasser McFall, 23, of Claymont, DE, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Gene E.K. Pratter for the explosive incidents described below. On June 29, 2022, McFall had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to maliciously damage property used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive, and aiding and abetting, as well as four separate counts alleging maliciously damaging property used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive.
McBride and McFall, along with Kamar Thompson, 34, of Philadelphia, were charged by indictment in April 2021 for their involvement in four separate incidents in Fall 2020: the robberies of a Target and a Wawa, and attempts to rob two different Wawas, all with multiple explosive devices. McFall was also charged with setting off an explosive device at a bank in Philadelphia later that year. McBride and McFall were previously arrested and charged by complaint, and Thompson was already in federal custody facing charges in a separate case involving the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
On Nov. 3, 2021, Thompson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to maliciously damage property used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive, and aiding and abetting, six counts alleging maliciously damaging property used in interstate commerce by means of an explosive, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
On Jan. 20, 2022, McBride and McFall were charged by superseding indictment, which added a charge alleging that McBride set off an explosive device at a Wells Fargo bank ATM in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia on March 2, 2021. The superseding indictment also alleged that McBride, McFall and Thompson stole over $400,000 from Capital One Bank (Target), PNC Bank (Wawa) and Wells Fargo.
As background:
On Oct. 26, 2020, a Philadelphia police officer-involved shooting occurred in the Cobbs Creek section of Philadelphia, resulting in the death of Walter Wallace Jr. Peaceful protests began that evening and continued into the following days, accompanied by a period of civil unrest, with widespread incidents of looting and violence in various neighborhoods in Philadelphia.
On Oct. 28, 2020, defendants McBride, Thompson and McFall conspired to break into a Target in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia and set off an explosive device in order to steal money from an ATM inside. The defendants had broken into a Wawa the following day, Oct. 29, on Richmond Street in Philadelphia, where they once again set off explosive devices in order to steal money from the ATM. On Oct. 31, the defendants broke into another Wawa in Northeast Philadelphia and detonated an explosive device. The indictment further alleged that the defendants set off an explosive device in another Wawa in Claymont, Delaware, on Nov. 4, 2020, in an attempt to rob this store in the same manner. All three defendants were later charged with setting off an explosive device inside an ATM at a Wells Fargo bank in Philadelphia on Dec. 2, 2020. McBride was then charged with setting off an explosive device at a Wells Fargo ATM in Philadelphia on March 2, 2021. The defendants were able to steal approximately $417,000 during the course of the conspiracy.
“The Department of Justice remains committed to protecting the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment freedoms,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “However, violence and destruction of property like this clearly jeopardize the rights and safety of all citizens. As evidenced by McBride’s plea and McFall’s sentence, if you seek to use peaceful protests as cover to pursue your own violent criminal agenda, my office and our law enforcement partners will bring you to justice.”
“Both defendants recklessly used explosive devices at least six times, each with the potential to cause significant damage and injure countless people,” said Eric DeGree, 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 explosives-related activity. I want to thank the Philadelphia Police Department, Delaware State Police, Upper Chichester Police Department and the United States Attorney’s Office for their efforts in this case.”
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Philadelphia Police Department, with assistance from Delaware State Police and Upper Chichester Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Eckert and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Osborne.
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