Group of arsonists arrested for series of fires in Walmart stores protesting minimum wage

‘We’re thankful arrests have been made in this case’, retailer says

The FBI first asked for information about the alleged arsonists last year (FBI / Twitter)

A group of arsonists who allegedly set fire to four Walmart stores last year over demands for a higher minimum hourly wage have been arrested.

The group of five, who also allegedly wrote a “Walmart Manifesto” that asked the American retailer to increase its hourly wage and to cap CEO earnings, appeared in court on Thursday for arraignment, as AL News reported.

Jeffery Sikes, 40, aka Kenneth Allen; Sean Bottorff, 37, aka Sean McFarland; Michael Bottorff, 21; Quinton Olson, 21; and Alexander Olson, 23, were identified in an indictment a day earlier on Wednesday.

It detailed how all five individuals referred to themselves as “the Veteran’s Order” in email and phone communications with newspapers last year, as an extremism researcher, Seamus Hughes, found.

Mr Hughes explained in a Twitter thread how the group purchased a “burner phone” to avoid detection after an initial fire was set at a Walmart in Mobile, Alabama, in May last year.

“Using the phone, they created a gmail account and calling themselves the ‘Veterans Order’ sent a manifesto to news organisations protesting Walmart’s business practices,” said Mr Hughes.

The group allegedly went on to set fires at another Walmart in Mobile, as well as in Gulfport and Biloxi in Mississippi – two cities more than 70 miles away.

Wednesday’s indictment said the group issued a “Walmart Manifesto” that was titled “Declaration of War and Demands for the People,” and included demands about the retailer’s “commerce practices”.

That included a warning of more arson if Walmart did not publicly acknowledge the group.

The “manifesto”, which was unveiled on Thursday, contained a list of demands for an increase in Walmart’s hourly minimum wage, changes to parental leave allowances, and a cap on Walmart’s CEO’s earnings – who “makes 983 times more than its lowest paid employee”.

All five members of the “Veterans Order” have now been charged with a conspiracy “to affect interstate and foreign commerce by maliciously setting fires to damage and destroy Walmart stores and the property within them.”

The charge carries a potential sentence of 20 years imprisonment and reports suggest all five have so far declared intent to plead not guilty.

“Specifically, the fires were maliciously set to force Walmart, Inc. to meet demands related to interstate and foreign commerce set forth by the conspirators in their manifesto (identified herein as ‘The Walmart Manifesto.’)”, the indictments added.

In a statement to The Independent on Friday, the retailer said: “We’re thankful arrests have been made in this case. The FBI and local law enforcement have done an outstanding job.”

“We’ve worked closely with the authorities throughout this investigation and will continue assisting them,” a spokesperson added. “Beyond that we’re referring all other questions to law enforcement.”