Student Nicholas Lamb has been acquitted of possession and carrying a Molotov cocktail at the Toronto G20 protests, according to the Toronto Star.
A Molotov cocktail, a type of gasoline bomb, is made from a bottle filled with gasoline. Lamb said he was arrested originally on suspicion of torching a police cruiser, and was then beaten by police, according to the Toronto Star.
Undercover officers at Spadina Avenue and Richmond Street said they thought they saw Lamb and another man filling glass bottles with an unidentified liquid.
The prosecution argued that the bottles were filled with vinegar that Lamb and his friends were using to soak bandanas to protect themselves from tear gas. The prosecution had a receipt from Shoppers Drug Mart showing the purchase, according to the lawyer.
After talks with the defence, the prosecution urged that Lamb be acquitted, stating that even though several officers thought they smelled gasoline, it wouldn’t have been enough to convict Lamb.
The prosecution lawyer stressed that its decision to end the prosecution was unrelated to Lamb’s accusations of police assault.
