Feds: Upstate NY man arrested for supplying bottles used in Molotov cocktail attack on NYPD
NEW YORK - Federal authorities arrested an upstate New York man Saturday they say supplied glass bottles to a woman charged with hurling a Molotov cocktail at an occupied New York City police vehicle during riots in New York City following the death of George Floyd.
Timothy Amerman, 29, of Saugerties, New York told federal investigators that he provided 27-year-old Samantha Shader with glass bottles from his recycling bin as she headed to the protests, but didn't think she'd be using them to create an incendiary device.
Amerman said he also gave Shader masks, rope, plastic baggies, marijuana and $10 in gas money, and that she took a hammer from his tool bucket, according to prosecutors.
Shader was arrested after throwing a Molotov cocktail at an NYPD van with four officers inside in Crown Heights, Brooklyn on May 29.
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Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said that NYPD officers suffered a range of injuries during Friday's violent protests, including reportedly having their teeth knocked out and others hospitalized.
The device shattered two windows but did not ignite, and none of the four officers in the vehicle were seriously injured. Shader was arrested within days of the incident and has been jailed since. Shader's sister faces state charges for allegedly jumping on a police officer's back and attempting to stop the arrest.
After her arrest, Shader told investigators that she was given “the bottle” by a black man with “skinny dreads” in different colors and another black woman. Shader denied knowing any of the people, but said that the man who gave her the bottle said that they were going to prove a point and that “she felt important at the time she took the bottle because she was the only white person in the area.”
However, investigators looking into the incident found a note in Shader’s car from Amerman that read “I found a few more glass bottles Than I thought I had, Though still not many.”
Amerman had made various posts on his Facebook account indicating his support for rioting, including saying “black people have every right to burn down a country they built for free,” and told investigators that Shader had asked him if he wanted to go with her to New York City and “cause some hell,” but that he had declined.
Amerman is charged with civil disorder and civil disorder conspiracy. He was ordered jailed following an initial court appearance Saturday in Albany and is due back in court Monday for a hearing to move the case to Brooklyn. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
With the Associated Press.