BY BEN VERDE
Two Brooklynites and one
upstate New Yorker were arraigned
in federal court on
Monday for allegedly throwing
Molotov cocktails at police
cars in two separate incidents
during protests against
police brutality on May 30.
Video from the scene apparently
shows one of the arrested
individuals, 27-year-old
Catskill resident Samantha
Shader, lighting a makeshift
explosive and hurling it towards
an occupied police car
— breaking its window, but
not exploding, according to
court documents.
Offi cers chased after
Shader as she allegedly tried
to fl ee the scene, before taking
her into custody — where
she later admitted to throwing
the would-be fi reball, according
to prosecutors.
Shader, who has been arrested
11 times in 11 states for
COURIER L 10 IFE, JUNE 5-11, 2020
various acts of violence and
resisting arrest, was charged
with attempted murder and
arraigned before Eastern District
of New York Judge Steven
Gold on June 1. She was
not offered bail, and remains
in federal custody.
“It’s violent in nature,”
U.S. Attorney Jonathan Algor
said during the arraignment.
“She’s throwing a Molotov
cocktail at NYPD offi cers
and with innocent bystanders
there’s signifi cant danger to
the community. If the defendant
were to be released, especially
during these times,
there’s no assurances that
the community would be protected.”
Authorities also charged
Urooj Rahman, a 31-year-old
lawyer who works in Bronx
housing court, and 32-yearold
attorney Colinford Mattis,
who serves on Brooklyn’s
Community Board 5, for allegedly
tossing a Molotov
cocktail into an unoccupied
police van that had already
received extensive damage
at the hands of other protesters.
The pair were also arraigned
on June 1 on charges
of causing damage by fi re and
explosives to a police vehicle,
according to court documents.
Rahman, facing her
fi rst-ever arrest, received a
$250,000 bond with home detention
and other conditions.
Federal defenders argued
Rahman posed no threat to the
community and was needed to
take care of her aging mother,
who she lives with in a south
Brooklyn apartment.
“Her involvement in her
mother’s life is so signifi cant
that she draws a stipend from
a home health care organization
to compensate her for the
amount of time she spends
Colinford Mattis (left) and Urooj Rahman. Eastern District of New York
with her mother,” Federal Defender
Benjamin Yaster said
in arguing for her bond package.
“That creates an enormous
incentive by itself for
her to comply with any terms
of release that this court imposes.”
Mattis also received a
$250,000 bond with home detention
and conditions. Lawyers
for the government argued
the court could not
assume that Mattis was of
sound mind.
“Colinford Mattis has not
demonstrated himself to be a
rational person,” a lawyer for
the government said. “He is a
person with an extraordinary
career that was just starting
in the law, he attended prestigious
universities… and yet
he risked everything to drive
around in a car with Molotov
cocktails attacking police vehicles.”
Federal authorities say
they plan on appealing both
decisions.
Caught in the act
Three people arrested for allegedly
throwing Molotov cocktails in Brooklyn