Troy man sentenced for role in 2020 Albany riot

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A Troy man has been sentenced in connection with a riot in Albany in 2020. The Albany County District Attorney's Office said Dwight Parker, 40, was sentenced to at least 20 years in state prison.

In April 2022, Parker was convicted of throwing Molotov cocktails at police, as well as setting a tractor-trailer on fire during the May 30, 2020 riot in Albany. The DA's Office said Parker also tried to seriously injure a police officer with a dangerous instrument.

Charges

• Attempted Aggravated Assault Against a Police Officer as an Act of Terrorism
• Attempted Aggravated Assault Against a Police Officer
• First-degree Attempted Assault
• Third-degree Arson
• Second-degree Criminal Mischief
• First-degree Riot

“Mr. Parker, you’re the victim, not me. Not us. You’re the victim of your own doing, clearly incapable of getting out of your own way, and as a result, you’ll now spend the upcoming years in prison, away from your family, who are also a victim of your crime,” said Albany Police Officer Adam Liebler during sentencing.

Parker was sentenced to 18 years in state prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. He was also sentenced to a consecutive term of two to six years in state prison, for a total minimum sentence of 20 years, and a maximum of 24 years, followed by five years of post-release supervision.

“You’re on video throwing Molotov cocktails at the police officers. It’s on video… You could have easily hit any of them right in the face. It could have easily killed, or seriously injured any of them. And you didn’t stop at one, you threw another that we were able to see… And then you bragged on Facebook after that night about what you did. You wanted to be that person front and center on violent acts toward the police. And the jury found you guilty of every charge in the indictment, and the evidence supported it. But you didn’t hear the verdict, because you fled before the verdict was read, which shows this court additional lack of remorse, and lack of acceptance of responsibility.”

Judge Andra Ackerman during sentencing