WASHINGTON– Continuing its on-going investigation of the Biden Administration’s politicization of the Department of Justice, America First Legal has sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for all records explaining why the Biden Administration allowed two New York attorneys who firebombed a police van and bragged about injuring police officers to avoid terrorism charges.
On May 30, 2020, Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman, two New York attorneys, were arrested in Brooklyn after Rahman threw a Molotov cocktail into an New York City Police Department (NYPD) vehicle and Mattis helped her escape from the scene.
Less than an hour before she set fire to the police vehicle, Rahman stated in a video-recorded interview that violence against law enforcement was “understandable,” and “the only way they hear us is through violence.” A witness also photographed Rahman attempting to distribute firebombs to others.
Text messages between the two lawyer-defendants included:
- “Go burn down [New York City Police Headquarters]”.
- “Bring it to their neck,” sharing a Google Maps to the police facility.
- “Set a police car on fire.”
- “My rock hit someone. A cop of course,” with a smiley face emoji.
- “Molotovs rollin’. I hope they burn everything down. Need to burn all police stations down and probably the courts too.”
In other texts, the defendants boasted about the destruction they were causing.
On June 11, 2020, a federal grand jury indicted the defendants on charges including Use of Explosives, Arson, Using an Explosive to Commit a Felony, Arson Conspiracy, Use of a Destructive Device, Civil Disorder, and Possessing and Making a Destructive Device. Facing up to 45 years in prison, in October 2021, the defendants each pled guilty to possessing and making firebombs. Prosecutors sought a ten-year sentence.
But then the Biden Administration became directly involved. Asserting that a ten-year sentence “appears to over-represent the maliciousness of the defendants’ intentions in committing the offense, while also negating the defendants’ otherwise law-abiding lives free of prior criminal convictions,” the defendants were allowed to withdraw their guilty pleas and instead admit to conspiracy, while prosecutors agreed to seek a maximum sentence of two years in prison.
Statement From America First Legal Senior Counselor and Director of Oversight Reed D. Rubinstein:
“The Department of Justice’s primary duty is to impartially enforce federal criminal law. This case, however, is yet another disturbing data point demonstrating that the Biden Administration has corrupted the DOJ by operating a two-tiered system of justice with one very lenient standard for Biden Administration allies and one much stricter standard for Biden Administration opponents. This cynically dangerous policy undermines the public’s faith in our government and does tremendous damage to social cohesion. To protect Constitutional due process and the rule of law, Congress must investigate, expose, and stop the Biden DOJ,” Reed Rubinstein said.
Read the FOIAs here.
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