PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a 25-year-old man to 10 years in prison for throwing Molotov cocktails at police officers in Portland, Ore., during mass protests against police brutality.
On Tuesday, US District Judge Marco A. Hernandez in Portland sentenced Malik Fard Muhammad of Indianapolis.
Prosecutors said Mohammed traveled from Indianapolis to Portland and threw Molotov cocktails at police, smashed windows in buildings and provided bats for others to do the same over several days in September 2020.
One of the devices exploded when it hit the ground on September 23, creating a fireball and setting fire to an officer’s pant leg, prosecutors said.
On Oct. 11, prosecutors said he was seen smashing windows of the Oregon Historical Society, Portland State University and businesses with a metal baton before police arrested him.
Police said he had laid down a loaded handgun before the arrest and was found with a loaded magazine in his pocket.
Deputy Public Defender Fidel Cassino-DuCloux said Muhammad has been diagnosed with bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorder and has been on federal medication since his arrest, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.
“I only regret my decisions, and if I could undo them, I would,” Muhammad told the judge. “I’m here now to atone for her.”
He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of unregistered destructive devices in federal court.
In state court in March, he pleaded guilty to four counts of rioting, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, four counts of criminal mischief and one count each of manufacturing a destructive device, possession of a destructive device, possession of a firearm and assault second degrees.
Muhammad’s federal sentence will be concurrent with a 10-year prison sentence being served in Multnomah County District Court. Prosecutors said the agreement on the verdict was reached after negotiations between federal and prosecutors and Mohammed’s defense attorneys.
Prosecutors said they considered Muhammad’s previous military service and his history of abuse as a child.
During a 2020 protest against racial justice in Indiana, Muhammad was the focus of a dramatic moment in which he and a police lieutenant reached a compromise to stave off a march away from the governor’s mansion.
He will serve his sentence in Oregon State Penitentiary, prosecutors said.