A 27-year-old woman from New York City who has been accused of hurling a Molotov cocktail at an occupied NYPD police van during a protest in Brooklyn in late May pleaded not guilty to all charges on Friday, court records show.
Samantha Shader was indicted on seven counts in June that included the use of explosives, the use of explosives to commit a felony, arson, use of a destructive device, arson conspiracy, civil disorder, and creating and possessing a destructive device, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York.
Shader appeared before Judge Dora Lizette Irizarry via video conference and was defended by attorneys Amanda L. David and Samuel Jacobson, who also appeared remotely. Shader is currently jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Shader was allegedly captured in a surveillance video after igniting her explosive and seemingly throwing it at the police van, which was occupied with four NYPD officers at the time.
The explosive did not go off but it did shatter two of the van’s windows, according to court filings (pdf). Shader was arrested by NYPD shortly after allegedly throwing the explosive on May 30.
“Violence, like that alleged here, not only endangers our NYPD officers but threatens the constitutional right of people to peacefully protest. These indictments by our federal partners reflect our joint condemnation of the kind of isolated acts a just society can never tolerate,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea said at the time.
Detectives concluded that Shader got the materials to create the Molotov cocktail from a friend in upstate New York, who was identified as 29-year-old Timothy Amerman. He was also arrested in relation to the explosive incident and was freed again on a bond on July 6, pending further court action, the New York Post reported.
Two additional people were accused of being involved in a separate Molotov cocktail attack during a protest one day earlier prior to Shader’s alleged attack. They were identified as two lawyers from Brooklyn, Colinford Mattis, 31, and Urooj Rahman, 32, and faced additional charges, according to the attorney’s office statement.
They were both accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at an unoccupied police van on May 29. Their explosive did ignite and set the unoccupied police van in the Fort Greene neighborhood in Brooklyn ablaze. The suspects then fled the scene in a tan minivan, prosecutors said.
Police officers chased the minivan and arrested Rahman and Mattis, who was reportedly driving the vehicle. Inside, officers said they found several items for the Molotov cocktails, including a lighter, a bottle filled with toilet paper and liquid that was suspected to be gasoline, and additional bottles and toilet paper.
That case has drawn widespread attention because both Rahman and Mattis are lawyers.
