Colinford Mattis Pryor Cashman lawyer & fellow attorney Urooj Rahman accused of hurling Molotov cocktail at empty marked NYPD vehicle in Brooklyn.
An Ivy League-educated lawyer and member of a Brooklyn community board was among those arrested for hurling a Molotov cocktail at a marked NYPD vehicle amid demonstrations over the death of George Floyd in NYC over the weekend.
Colinford Mattis, 32, was allegedly behind the wheel of a tan minivan as his passenger, fellow attorney Urooj Rahman, allegedly hurled the flammable object at an empty NYPD vehicle outside the 88th Precinct station house in Fort Greene early on Saturday.
Mattis, a graduate of Princeton University and New York University law school, is an associate at corporate Manhattan firm, Pryor Cashman.
He was furloughed in April amid the coronavirus crisis, his employer confirmed the nypost reports.
‘As we confront critical issues around historic and ongoing racism and inequity in our society, I am saddened to see this young man allegedly involved in the worst kind of reaction to our shared outrage over what had occurred,’ managing partner Ron Shechtman said in a statement to the tabloid.
Brooklyn Community Board 5 in East New York lists Mattis as one of its members.
Rahman, 31, meanwhile, is also registered as an attorney in New York state, who was admitted to the bar in June 2019 after graduating from Fordham University School of Law.
The super of Rahman’s building called her “an angel” who recently lost her legal job the nydailynews reports.
‘I can’t believe it. I’m stunned,’ said George Raleigh, the super of Rahman’s building in Bay Ridge. ‘This kid? She’s an angel.’
Out on $250K bail: Brooklyn Molotov cocktail lawyers tried to pass out firebombs to protesters
‘No rational human being can ever believe that hurling firebombs at police officers and vehicles is justified,’
Authorities say Rahman, 31, tossed a bottle filled with gasoline through a broken window into the cruiser just before 1 am Saturday but the Molotov cocktail failed to ignite. Rahman jumped into a van driven by Mattis and they sped off, court papers allege.
The attempted torching was captured by video surveillance cameras outside the precinct station house on DeKalb Ave., according to court papers.
Cops gave chase and stopped the van nearby on Willoughby St. They found the makings of another Molotov cocktail in the back seat along with a gasoline container, authorities say.
‘No rational human being can ever believe that hurling firebombs at police officers and vehicles is justified,’ said Brooklyn U.S Attorney Richard Donoghue the daily news reports.
Neither Rahman nor Mattis have been arrested before, authorities say. They face federal charges and will be arraigned Monday.
It’s unclear how she and Mattis know each other or whether the pair will ever be allowed to practice law again.
.@PryorCashman NY attorney and Community Board Member Colinford Mattis, 32, and alleged confederate attorney Urooj Rahman, 31, arrested for gas bomb attack on NYPD https://t.co/IFOgeVP1x7 pic.twitter.com/tIidp1I3bB
— USLaw.com (@USLaw_com) June 1, 2020
