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Coby Dale Green threw a Molotov cocktail into the Donut Hole donut shop on Oct. 31, 2022, authorities said. (Mug shot: Tulsa County Jail)
An Oklahoma man is going to a federal prison for throwing a lit Molotov cocktail into a donut shop that had hosted a drag queen event. Investigators in the city of Tulsa linked Coby Dale Green, 25, to the incident, in part by discovering similar flyers, clothes, and even lighters to the one the assailant used in the Oct. 31, 2022, incident.
He had also complained on social media about the business doing an event with drag queens.
“Ok, it’s officially time to shine our boots and put on our armbands boys,” he wrote in the probable cause affidavit viewed by Law&Crime. “This disgusting filth has got to go.”
Having pleaded guilty back on Aug. 16 to malicious use of explosive materials, he was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison and three years of supervised release under a hate crime enhancement.
The Donut Hole had already dealt with vandalism just days before the Halloween incident.
“I’m just sad they didn’t molotov it,” Green wrote regarding an Oct. 17, 2022, story about this prior incident.
As seen on video, a man in the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2022, approached the front of the shop. He appeared to post something next door; authorities described it as “a flyer with anti-LGBTQ slogans.”
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Placing a lighter and bottle on a picnic table, he began to smash at the business’ windows with a bat. Then he lit the bottle, threw it into the business, and ran off.
According to documents, the mother of a business co-owner pointed them at Green, citing his social media activity.
Local authorities recognized him in the surveillance footage because they had already crossed paths with him in an unrelated arson case, which was dismissed when the prosecution witness did not appear.
Investigators said Green’s cellphone data put him in the area at the time of the arson. A search warrant at his residence turned up items similar to what he wore on Oct. 31, 2022. That included gray gloves, black jackets, identical flyers, and blue face masks.
They also found newspapers dated the day after the incident that included articles about the Donut Hole arson. The affiant suggested that arsonists will often keep mementos as “trophies.”
“These serve as a memory aid of the crime or as a way for the person to memorialize what they have done, especially if they were committing the crime for grandeur, status or simply something for which they are proud,” documents state.
