Brooklyn Lawyers Arrested, Charged With Molotov Cocktail Attacks on Police Vehicles

Two lawyers, one of whom is employed by a prestigious New York law firm, were arrested on Friday night for constructing molotov cocktails and throwing them at police vehicles during the race riots that have rocked the nation.

Colinford Mattis, 32, and Urooj Rahman, 31, were arrested and charged Sunday morning. Authorities allege that Rahman threw multiple molotov cocktail devices from the back of a car that Mattis was driving. Materials used in the construction of the crude incendiary devices was found in the car.

Rahman had been caught lobbing a device at an unoccupied NYPD vehicle in Fort Greene. NYPD surveillance camera footage later enabled the authorities to apprehend the criminal suspects.

Mattis had been an employee of a large corporate law firm called Pryor Cashman. His biography on the law firm’s website was removed by Sunday afternoon, indicating that the company had severed its connection with the 2016 NYU Law and Princeton graduate. Rahman is a 2019 Fordham law graduate.

Mattis is also a member of New York City’s Community Board 5, a municipal council that covers East New York and Starrett City. Members of the board expressed shock that the white collar professional would engage in such acts of terroristic violence.

The two attorneys are scheduled for an initial court appearance on Monday in the Eastern District of New York. It appears that a significant portion of the violence of the riots is being carried out by nominally well-educated and middle-class urban professionals.

Our Latest Articles