A woman accused of lobbing a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD van during Friday night's protests in Brooklyn is among three people facing federal criminal charges, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Samantha Shader, 27, of Catskills, NY, is charged with using a Molotov cocktail to damage an NYPD vehicle. She's expected to be arraigned on Monday.
On Saturday morning, a few hours before federal authorities revealed they would charge Shader, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea announced that Shader was charged by police with four counts of attempted murder for allegedly throwing the cocktail toward the van with four officers inside. The incident happened at Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue within the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn at around 1:12 a.m. on Saturday, according to the criminal complaint.
The cocktail did not go off. Police also charged Shader with assault, attempted arson, criminal possession of a weapon, and reckless endangerment. Her sister Darian Shader, 21, was hit with lesser charges by police, including obstructing governmental administration. Darian did not face any federal charges.
Two Brooklyn residents, Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman, were also charged with allegedly using a Molotov cocktail to damage an NYPD vehicle, which was empty, in a separate incident. The three were charged with using or attempting to use an incendiary device in an attempt to cause damage, said prosecutors.
“These defendants are charged with attacking the New York City Police Department while its Police Officers are risking their lives to protect the Constitutional rights of protesters and the safety of us all,” U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement. “No rational human being can ever believe that hurling firebombs at Police Officers and vehicles is justified.“
The Shader sisters were among the more than 200 people rounded up from the protests that began in Lower Manhattan and moved into Brooklyn. Some 3,000 people were out on the streets in response to the May 25th death of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis shortly after Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck. Now Chauvin now faces third-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Mayor Bill de Blasio—who denounced the actions of violent protestors along with violent cops—has launched an independent review of the tactics involved in the protest.
The federal charges came a few hours after U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced that any American demonstrating will be charged federally if they're hit with rioting charges by local authorities.
“It is a federal crime to cross state lines or to use interstate facilities to incite or participate in violent rioting,” he said. “And we will enforce those laws.”
The article has been updated to include comments from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
