NEW YORK – A New York City attorney was sentenced to 15 months behind bars on Friday for setting fire to an empty New York City police vehicle with another attorney during protests over the killing of George Floyd.
Before hearing her sentence, Urooj Rahman asked a judge to pardon her jail term and give her a “second chance” to redeem herself from what she called a momentary lapse in judgement.
“I am so sorry for my reckless and wrongful actions,” a tearful Rahman said in federal court in Brooklyn. “I think there are not enough words to express my pain and regret. … I got totally lost in the excitement of the night.
US District Judge Brian Cogan praised her for choosing a career in public interest law to fight social injustice.
“You are an extraordinary person who did a terrible thing overnight,” Cogan said.
However, Cogan also chastised her for thinking she could get away with a violent protest.
“He displays an incredible amount of arrogance. … It’s just a very arrogant way of thinking,” she said.
Federal prosecutors had recommended an 18 to 24 month sentence as part of a plea deal.
Rahman and Colinford Mattis were arrested during clashes between protesters and police on May 30, 2020, amid an outburst of protests following the killing of Floyd by a Minnesota police officer.
Surveillance cameras recorded Rahman throwing an incendiary device at a parked police vehicle, setting fire to his console. No one was injured in the attack, but the vehicle was badly damaged.
Officers arrested the attorneys a short time later and said they found a lighter, a bottle of Bud Light full of toilet paper and a gas tank in the back of a minivan driven by Mattis, a corporate attorney. Prosecutors said the lawyers planned to distribute and throw more petrol bombs.
While other lawyers have condemned his conduct, some have disputed the seriousness of the charges, arguing the case was mishandled as an act of domestic terrorism. When Brooklyn’s federal prosecutor requested that the attorneys be held without bail, 56 former federal prosecutors filed a legal brief to the court criticizing the government’s handling of the case.
Rahman and Mattis have been disabled. Mattis is expected to be sentenced next month.
