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Police arrest roommate of man involved in St. Pete protests
Catherine Hawley reports
ST. PETERSUBRG, Fla. - Police arrested a man during a June protest in St. Petersburg, alleging he intended to deploy a Molotov cocktail after a peaceful protest. He was arrested a second time, in July, for what police called terrorist activity.
But the man's lawyer says there are inconsistencies in law enforcement statements regarding his client's arrest.
After the sun went down June 3, a peaceful protest outside St. Pete police headquarters turned tense.
Officials say one man in the crowd threw a spent ammunition round at officers and moments later police discovered Abraham Quraishi had a loaded handgun in his waistband without a concealed carry permit.
(Photo: St. Pete Police)
Later, investigators say they discovered a bottle with a flammable liquid and a wick in his car, parked a few blocks from the police department.
Quraishi was arrested for the firearm, inciting a riot, and resisting arrest, but was never formally charged.
Arrest documents say, "If the defendant was not arrested, there is reason to believe the defendant was going to discharge the device.”
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Detectives said they also found multiple videos the 26-year-old recorded the week before involving weapons and police, according to court records.
Then, at the end of July, Quraishi was arrested a second time for what police called terrorist activity and making a destructive device. He has not been formally charged with a crime in the July incident, either.
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Last week, officers picked up Quraishi's roommate, Seanfrancis Zeigenbein, accusing the 23-year-old of being the person in one of Quraishi's videos from May who lit a Molotov cocktail device and threw it in a St. Pete parking lot.
Seanfrancis Zeigenbein
No charges have formally been filed against Zeigenbein, either.
The Tampa attorney representing both men says the facts of this case will eventually come out, saying the arrest documents are full of inconsistencies. He would not go into detail but plans to comment in the near future.