The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May sparked protests in cities and towns nationwide. Brooklyn lawyers, Urooj Rahman and Collinford Mattis, were just two among of thousands of protesters in New York City. The two lawyers, committed to social justice, were among many calling for the end of police brutality, and the deeper condition of systemic racism: the interwoven mechanism of institutional bias that continues to disenfranchise and marginalize the lives of Black and Brown victims. In the early morning hours of May 30, 2020, Rahman was videotaped calling for change, stating: “No property is above a human life. Destruction of property is nothing compared to the murder of a human life.”
Then, about an hour after that videotaped interview, Mattis and Rahman were driving in Brooklyn, where Rahman allegedly exited their vehicle and threw a lit Molotov cocktail onto the console of an unoccupied police vehicle. Rahman returned to the vehicle, which Mattis was driving. Shortly thereafter, the two were arrested and charged with seven felonies in federal court: (1) use of explosives, (2) arson, (3) using an explosive to commit a felony, (4) arson conspiracy, (5) use of a destructive device, (6) civil disorder, and (7) possessing and making a destructive device.
These charges, in comparison to those brought against George Floyd’s accused killer Derek Chauvin sends a clear message. For their alleged property crime, that is routinely charged in state court, Rahman and Mattis are facing federal charges carrying a mandatory minimum of 45 years in federal prison. A conviction under the mandatory minimum would act as life sentence for both of these young attorneys. In comparison, Derek Chauvin faces a maximum of 40 years in state prison, likely less.
The National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division stands in solidarity with Rahman, Mattis, the Center for Constitutional Rights, New York University School of Law, Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law, among many other organizations, and calls for the federal prosecutors to drop these excessive charges, as the current charges do not conform to the crime. We condemn a criminal justice system that would penalize a property crime above and beyond crimes of murder committed against Black victims.
