Lawyer Who Tossed Molotov Cocktail Into NYPD Car Gets 1 Year In Prison

BROOKLYN, NY — Colinford Mattis, one of two lawyers who pleaded guilty to the firebombing of an NYPD car during the George Floyd protests, has been sentenced by a judge to one year and one day in prison, officials said.

He will surrender on March 8 and face one year of supervised release after his release from jail, according to officials.

Mattis, 34, along with fellow lawyer Urooj Rahman, 33, pleaded guilty after being accused of tossing a Molotov cocktail into an empty NYPD car during the protest.

Mattis and Rahman have each been ordered to pay $30,137 in restitution to the New York City Police department after the police van was destroyed in the attack, according to officials.

According to a court file, Rahman has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release.

In 2021, Rahman and Mattis expressed regret for their actions but fought federal prosecutors' efforts to treat them as terrorists and bring their potential sentence up to 10 years —a move repeatedly questioned for being overly harsh.

Under a plea deal filed in 2022, Rahman and Mattis agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge, for which prosecutors recommended pursuing a two-year sentence at most.

Rahman, a corporate attorney, and Mattis, a human rights lawyer, were arrested during a George Floyd solidarity protest on May 30, 2020 near the 88th Precinct in Fort Greene, court records show.

As the protest devolved into chaos, Rahman — who was riding in Mattis' minivan at the time — exited the van and threw a Molotov cocktail through the broken window of an empty police car, charring the dashboard, prosecutors said.

Mattis drove the two away, according to court documents. No one was injured, records show. Police allegedly found a beer bottle stuffed with toilet paper, a lighter, and a gasoline tank in the back of their van.