FBI still searching for 2020 rioter who helped demolish ICE facility

Authorities are searching for a transgender-identifying man accused of bombing an immigration facility during Black Lives Matter riots six summers ago.Ronald Watson allegedly joined a mob of black-clothed radicals in 2020 who demolished the building’s interior in Atlanta, Georgia, but the FBI did not tie him to the incident until his 2023 conviction in a local Oregon case, court records show. Watson petitioned Oregon in January 2024 to change his name to Emily Smith and applied for a passport under two other names while providing an unspecified address, according to the Department of Justice.The FBI is offering up to $10,000 for helpful information on Watson, born in Alabama, and lists his numerous alleged aliases in a public notice. “He may have changed his appearance and may be dressing in women’s clothing,” the bureau said. The suspect’s case records tell the tale of a radicalized young man sowing anti-government chaos on opposite coasts of the country and evading justice from three presidential administrations. An image shows the aftermath of a July 25, 2020, riot at an immigration facility in Atlanta, Georgia. (Department of Justice) Watson and a group of masked rioters scaled a fence during the 2020 nighttime riot and used “rocks, cinder blocks, modified fireworks, Molotov Cocktails, and other materials” at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement site, causing more than $78,000 in damage, a DOJ filing says. Near broken windows, FBI investigators found blood in several areas inside the building that matched one unknown individual.Oregon prosecutors charged Watson in December 2022 with several crimes, according to local records that do not describe the arrest. He pleaded guilty the following month to theft, assaulting a public safety officer, and using “ESG/Tear Gas/Mace,” receiving a 30-day jail sentence and three years of probation, the records show.The Oregon State Police then matched Watson’s DNA from the blood at the 2020 Georgia riot, which revived the FBI’s investigation. The DOJ won a grand jury indictment charging Watson with damaging government property by fire and explosive and issued an arrest warrant in July 2025. The #FBI offers a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the location and arrest of Ronald Scott Watson, #wanted for his alleged involvement in the attack on the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) building located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia,… pic.twitter.com/ElNKz63S9l— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) July 25, 2026 The Trump administration previously saw success in catching and convicting a violent leftist suspect. Antifa leader Benjamin Song shot a police officer during a July 2025 anti-ICE riot in Texas, fled from authorities for 11 days, and was arrested by a SWAT team at a co-defendant’s Dallas apartment. Jurors convicted Song of attempted murder and other federal offenses in March, leading to a 100-year sentence.THIS TEXAN LED ARMED ‘COMMUNITY DEFENSE’ FOR LEFTISTS. NOW HE’S SERVING 100 YEARS BEHIND BARSAuthorities found anti-ICE social media content linked to Watson, including posts purporting to identify ICE agents in Georgia and suggesting agents should be beaten with bats, court documents allege.“I’ve marched, thrown bricks, done other things not to be mentioned, raised awareness, promoted civil disobedience tactics, Doxxed people, signed petitions, contacted my senator and representative, don’t tell me that I’m not taking action,” Watson allegedly wrote in a post.