(IPT) The New York media is titillated, mystified and horrified all at the same time. Why did two seemingly promising young lawyers allegedly carry out a Molotov cocktail attack on [a] New York Police Department police car? How is it possible that they would cross the line over to violence, upend their lives, and jeopardize their legal careers?
On May 30, in the first days of protests and looting in New York City following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Urooj Rahman and her friend Colinford Mattis allegedly gathered gasoline and other materials in order to construct Molotov cocktails. According to court documents, they brought the homemade bombs to the protest, and Rahman is accused of hurling a Molotov cocktail inside the broken window of a police car. The pair also reportedly attempted to distribute the Molotov cocktails to others to encourage them to do the same. After initially being released on bail, the court on Friday ordered both of them back to jail. If convicted, they could face between 5 and 20 years in federal prison and be disbarred.
