Tacoma man sentenced to two years in prison for 2020 fire at Seattle’s East Precinct

A former Seattle resident, who lived in Tacoma prior to his arrest, has been sentenced to two years in prison for setting fire to the outside of the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct in 2020.

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Isaiah Thomas Willoughby, 36, used a can of gasoline to set a fire just feet from where protesters were camped in the early morning hours of June 12, 2020, during the occupied protest known as “CHOP.” He was sentenced Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. Judge John C. Coughenour imposed three years of supervised release to follow the prison term.

The Seattle Police Department had released pictures and surveillance video of the arson suspect, and he was recognized by various people. He was wearing distinctive clothing. Willoughby admitted to using a small gas can to pour gasoline on debris piled next to the wall of the precinct. In the video, the pile was starting to burn and Willoughby is seen walking away. The fire scorched the side of the building, but was extinguished by those nearby.

Since his arrest on July 14, 2020, Willoughby has been in custody at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.

OPA: Seattle Police Department did not break the law when it abandoned the East Precinct

In a separate incident, an Alaska man who set fire to the East Precinct in August 2020 was sentenced to 20 months in prison earlier this year. Desmond David-Pitts, 20, was sentenced in May 2021 in the U.S. District Court in Seattle for conspiracy to commit arson in connection with the fire he set Aug. 24, 2020, at the East Precinct. Surveillance video shows David-Pitts piling up trash and lighting it on fire outside of a precinct door. He was arrested shortly after the fire.

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