Saturday, 19 November 2022

Muslima lawyer sobs in court after getting only 15 months for firebombing NYPD van

The Biden Justice Department, in a rare move, intervened to ask the court to go easy on them after the Trump administration had pressed for an aggressive prosecution.

New York City lawyer sobs in court as she's sentenced to 15 months behind bars for firebombing NYPD van with molotov cocktail fashioned out of a Bud Light bottle during BLM protests

  • Urooj Rahman asked a judge to spare her prison time and give her a 'second chance' to redeem herself for what she called a momentary lapse of judgement
  • 'I'm so incredibly sorry for my reckless and wrong actions,' a tearful Rahman said in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday 
  • U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan scolded her for thinking she could get away with violent protest
  • Surveillance cameras recorded Rahman hurling an incendiary device into a parked police vehicle, setting fire to its console on May 30, 2020
  •  No one was injured in the attack, but the vehicle was severely damaged
A New York City attorney was sentenced to 15 months behind bars on Friday for firebombing a New York City police vehicle with another lawyer during riots.

Before hearing her sentence, Urooj Rahman asked a judge to spare her prison time and give her a 'second chance' to redeem herself for what she called a momentary lapse of judgement.

'I'm so incredibly sorry for my reckless and wrong actions,' a tearful Rahman said in federal court in Brooklyn. 'I don´t think there´s enough words to express my sorrow and regret. ... I completely lost my way in the emotion of the night.'

Rahman and Colinford Mattis were arrested amid clashes between rioters and police on May 30, 2020.

Urooj Rahman (pictured), 33, along with Colinford Mattis, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges punishable by no more than five years imprisonment in June over the destruction

Urooj Rahman (pictured), 33, along with Colinford Mattis, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges punishable by no more than five years imprisonment in June over the destruction

Urooj Rahman clutching a Molotov cocktail fashioned out of a Bud Light bottle on the night she used a similar device to torch an NYPD van

Urooj Rahman clutching a Molotov cocktail fashioned out of a Bud Light bottle on the night she used a similar device to torch an NYPD van

An NYPD van which was set ablaze in Brooklyn during the May 2020 George Floyd protests. It is not clear if it is the same vehicle that the lawyers hit with Molotovs

An NYPD van which was set ablaze in Brooklyn during the May 2020 George Floyd riots.

A burned out NYPD van after the protest in May 2020. It is not clear if it is the same vehicle that the lawyers hit with Molotovs

A burned out NYPD van after the protest in May 2020.

Judge Cogan scolded her for thinking she could get away with it.

'It displays an amazing amount of arrogance. ... It's just a very arrogant way to think,' he said.

A police officer watches a crowd as the firebombed NYPD van burns behind him

A police officer watches a crowd as the firebombed NYPD van burns behind him

Urooj Rahman after her 2020 arrest
Colinford Mattis after his 2020 arrest

Urooj Rahman, (left) and Colinford Mattis (right) after their arrest in 2020 for firebombing an NYPD van during George Floyd riots in New York City

Rahman and Colinford Mattis were arrested amid clashes between rioters and police on May 30, 2020.

Surveillance cameras recorded Rahman hurling an incendiary device into a parked police vehicle, setting fire to its console. The vehicle was severely damaged.

Officers arrested the lawyers a short time later and said they found a lighter, a Bud Light beer bottle filled with toilet paper and a gasoline tank in the back of a minivan driven by Mattis, a corporate attorney. Prosecutors alleged the lawyers planned to distribute and throw other Molotov cocktails.

Rahman and Mattis have been disbarred. Mattis is scheduled for sentencing next month.

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