Biography
Joshua "Josh" Williams became one of the youngest and most visible participants in the Ferguson uprising after police killed Michael Brown in August 2014. Police arrested him on December 27, 2014 after a protest in Berkeley, Missouri over the police killing of Antonio Martin. Prosecutors accused him of setting a fire inside a QuikTrip convenience store; no one was injured. Williams pleaded guilty to first-degree arson, second-degree burglary, and misdemeanor stealing on November 2, 2015. On December 10, 2015 he received concurrent terms of eight years, five years, and three months. Supporters argued that the unusually severe sentence was intended to make an example of a nineteen-year-old protester. He remained in Missouri custody after a later conviction for possessing a prohibited object in prison prevented the release supporters had expected in 2022. His support network now expects him to be released in early November 2026, but no completed release date has yet been documented.
