A Grand Rapids, Mich. woman is under arrest after a Facebook Live video showed her trashing property and encouraging others to riot, prosecutors say. The woman, Alexandria “Ally” Lyons, 22, of Grand Rapids, is accused of live streaming footage which authorities say will help them prove their case.
Police say Lyons played a role in breaking into an ATM, stealing jewelry, and also taking beers from a piano bar — either directly or by asking others to do so. That’s according to local reports.
Lyons is charged with the malicious destruction of a building (between $1,000 and $20,000) in one case and inciting a riot in a companion case according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
“Lyons . . . also posted video of a party at her home after the riots in which clothing stolen from F. David Barney Clothiers, 125 Ottawa Ave. NW, was displayed,” news reports said. Authorities later found a shirt from the store at her home.
Local reports indicated that “about 100 businesses sustained damage,” “[s]even patrol cars . . . were torched,” and that a county building which also contained the local prosecutor’s office was damaged.
Seven were initially arrested during the riot; police went after Lyons after tips streamed in which indicated she was involved. “Ally was responsible for causing and creating a lot of damage in the downtown area during this time,” they reportedly said.
Lyons refused to speak to police and asked for an attorney.
“She is heard multiple times encouraging her friends and others to throw bricks or other objects at windows of multiple businesses downtown and at one point picks up a brick herself and mentions heading ‘back to the courthouse,’” court documents say, per local reports.
[Image via the Kent County, Mich. Sheriff’s Department.]