Grandmaster Jay NFAC: On Wednesday, a grand jury in Jefferson County indicted NFAC leader John “Grandmaster Jay” Johnson on state counts for allegedly brandishing a firearm at police officers during the Breonna Taylor protests leading up to the 2020 Kentucky Derby.
On Louisville protest case Jay pleads not guilty | Grandmaster Jay NFAC
Johnson, 57, has been charged with five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, and his case has been assigned to the Jefferson Circuit Court.
According to the court documents, Johnson pled not guilty at his arraignment on Monday.
According to the Jefferson Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail if convicted.
Johnson, the leader of the Atlanta-based “Not Around Coalition.” This year, he was also indicted in federal court on related charges stemming from an incident on the roof of a downtown building on Sept. 4, 2020.
He allegedly targets a rifle at an FBI agent. A Secret Service agent and several Louisville Metro Police officers.
However, the state charge includes five counts of wanton endangerment, although the federal case only has one count, which is limited to the one federal law enforcement officer who Johnson allegedly targeted, according to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office.
One of America’s largest militias was created by black males. The leader of the NFAC is now facing federal prosecution
Johnson also had a federal hearing scheduled for late Wednesday afternoon. It determines when the matter would go to trial.
David Lambertus, his state-court counsel, declined to comment on Wednesday.
The federal complaint, officers on the roof, were “blinded by a light which they soon discovered was a spotlight mounted to the gun being directed at them by Johnson” around 8:30 the night before the rescheduled Derby.
Officers were stationed at the Jefferson County grand jury building, 514 W. Liberty St., just south of Jefferson Square Park, to keep an eye on things for safety reasons, according to police.
Taylor, who was tragically shot by LMPD police during a botched narcotics raid at her home in March 2020, was the focus of months of protests in Jefferson Square Park.
The Justice and Rally on the incident | Grandmaster Jay NFAC
Last July, Johnson and the NFAC, an armed Black group, came to Louisville for the first time to demand justice for Taylor.
They return the first weekend in September to march and rally outside Churchill Downs in support of Taylor during Derby weekend, which was postponed from its expected May date because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the complaint, the FBI examined Real Time Crime Center camera footage collected from the MetroSafe building, with two screenshots of the rifle-pointing incident included in the criminal file.
The Probable Reason hearing on the Incident and Videos | Grandmaster Jay NFAC
Sgt. James Lane of the LMPD said during a probable cause hearing earlier this year that Johnson told officers after the incident that he didn’t know who was on top of the building but was “concerned about kids shooting paintballs off the roof.”
“Is it a good idea to point weapons at kids?” we replied. Lane remarked. “‘No, probably not,’ he responded.”
During the probable cause hearing in May, Johnson’s lawyer, David Lambertus, expressed concerns to the judge about how prosecutors had not yet produced a video of the incident or provided more information about the weapon, including whether loaded it.
The Search of Johnson’s Resident and found many evidences | Grandmaster Jay NFAC
“It’s just strange that this very urgent, very dramatic situation takes three months before anyone does something about it,” Lambertus added, referring to the three months between the September incident and Johnson’s arrest on Dec. 3.
According to court filings, after Johnson’s arrest in December, authorities searched his residence in West Chester, Ohio, and recovered six assault-style firearms, ammo, rifle magazines, and body armour.
The Cincinnati Enquirer earlier reported that investigators were seeking the gun Johnson reported used in Louisville.
The Courier Journal’s decision to study Louisville’s magnet schools and programmes was motivated by several factors.
The place for Black People and getting money from Presidents to become a member of UN
Johnson has been out of jail while both his state and federal cases have been heard in court.
In a search warrant application, an FBI agent stated that the NFAC plans to construct a new country “controlled and developed by Black people” in the future.
According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Johnson stated his group’s long-term goals in an interview with the media during the September protests in Louisville, which is part of the USA TODAY Network.
He talked about obtaining property from various African presidents and eventually becoming a member of the UN.
“We require our residence. Our own culture is required. Johnson earlier stated, “We need our own money.” “We require our armed forces.”
We must have the ability to control our fate. So you have to deal with our pain if you kill one of us
After a former member of Johnson’s coalition, Othal Wallace was arrested in June at a Georgia property linked with the NFAC after allegedly shooting and badly wounding a Daytona Beach, Florida, police officer days earlier, the group received additional attention.
Wallace has been disputed by Johnson, who claims he quit the NFAC months ago.
According to USA TODAY, after several inquiries, local and federal law enforcement officials had provided no evidence that Wallace was a member of the NFAC when he killed the officer or that the group was linked to the property.
Johnson stated in a December YouTube video that he would fight both his federal and state cases.
“You all know they’re doing this to bankrupt me,” he continued, “and they’re going to stretch it out.”
“They’re going to throw everything they’ve got at me because we all know this is a load of nonsense.”
Johnson told USA TODAY that if he is imprisoned, he will be the next in a long line of Black leaders who have been imprisoned by a system that has been biased against them from the outset, including The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
“It would be intelligent if they didn’t ignore me,” he said.
Also Read: