NEW YORK — The day before he went out to protest, Colinford Mattis, 32, an Ivy-educated corporate lawyer in Brooklyn, chatted for over an hour on the phone with a close high school friend. They discussed George Floyd’s death as just “another example of an unarmed black person being killed,” the friend said, but they talked about grocery shopping and YouTube videos as well.
A little over a week after their arrests, it is difficult to draw conclusions about their motivations. If the charges prove to be true, were the two spurred by an ill-advised moment of anger — or did they act out of a deeper, darker disillusionment with the political system in the wake of Floyd’s death?
“This has got to stop, and the only way they hear, the only way they hear us, is through violence, through the means that they use,” she said.“People are angry because the police are never held accountable,” she said. Mattis’ lawyer, Sabrina Shroff, said at an earlier hearing, “The government tries to argue to this court that Mr. Mattis’ behavior — assuming that they can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and conceding nothing at this point — is indicative of who Mr. Mattis is. They are clearly wrong.”Ikenna Iheoma, the friend who spoke with Mattis the day before the protest, said they had never discussed violence against police. “We went to private high school,” he said. “That’s not the lane we go to.
Salmah Rizvi, who was also at the May 29 Zoom talk with Rahman, said nothing seemed unusual about Rahman’s recent behavior. While the previous night had been quiet, the scene at Barclays Center in Brooklyn turned chaotic on that second day. Videos on social media showed police beating protesters with batons and protesters throwing bottles and debris at police.
The two were charged in Brooklyn federal court with causing damage by fire and explosives to a police vehicle. If convicted, they face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison. There does not appear to be a connection between the incident with Shader and the one that prosecutors said involved Mattis and Rahman.
Rahman was born in Pakistan and grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, a neighborhood with a large population of Muslim immigrants. The neighborhood came under intense police scrutiny after the Sept. 11 terror attack, which became a defining experience for Rahman, childhood friends said.
This article reads as if it’s shocking! We all know the secrets of weather underground and Antifa! We’ve seen Project Veritas insider videos ! 👹 devils
Smh
SCUM
DEPORT THEM TAKE PASSPORT WHEN THEY LEAVE SCUM
The epitome of no justice no peace.