Charred Body Found Inside Minneapolis Pawn Shop Two Months After It Was Torched in George Floyd Riots

Getty Images

A charred body was found in a Minneapolis pawnshop torched during the “peaceful” George Floyd riots two months after the building burned down.

Max it Pawn is a few blocks from the Third Precinct police station targeted by rioters.

According to reports, the charred body found in the wreckage is believed to be an adult male.

The Star Tribune reported:

Investigators from the Minneapolis Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the state fire marshal’s division were acting on a tip when they discovered the body Monday morning in the rubble of Max It Pawn, at 2726 E. Lake St., according to Police Department spokesman John Elder.

“The body appears to have suffered thermal injury and we do have somebody charged with setting fire to that place,” said Elder, adding that city homicide detectives had taken over the investigation. He said that the victim’s identity would be released by medical examiners after an autopsy is completed, along with the precise cause and manner of death.

Details about the circumstances and timeline of the case remained hazy Monday, but a police news release suggested that the man died in the blaze that destroyed the building on May 28.

A 25-year-old Rochester man, Montez Terrill Lee, was federally charged last month with arson in connection with the fire.

According to the criminal complaint against Lee, ATF investigators received video from an anonymous source of an arson that occurred at the pawnshop. In the first clip, a masked man, later identified as Lee, is seen pouring liquid from a metal container throughout the pawnshop. A second video shows Lee standing in front of the burning pawnshop saying “[Expletive] this place. We’re gonna burn this [expletive] down.”