AG to investigate NYC Floyd protests  Catskill woman charged with attempted murder at NYC protest

NEW YORK — A Catskill woman was charged with attempted murder Friday for throwing a Molotov cocktail at an occupied police van during a protest in New York City over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Monday, New York Police Department spokesman Det. Brian Magoolaghan said Saturday.

The woman’s younger sister, also from Catskill, faces lesser charges in connection with the protest, Magoolaghan said.

Samantha Shader, 27, of West Main Street was charged with four counts of attempted murder and assault, one count of attempted arson, criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment, Magoolaghan said.

Darian Shader, 21, also of West Main Street, was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration, Magoolaghan said.

At about 10:36 p.m., officers spotted Samantha Shader at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Washington Avenue in Brooklyn’s 71st precinct, holding a bottle with a rag in it, Magoolaghan said.

Samantha Shader then lit the rag and threw the bottle at a marked police van with four officers inside, Magoolaghan said.

The bottle shattered a window but did not explode on impact, Magoolaghan said. The four officers, who were not injured, were able to get out of the van before the firebomb exploded and van burst into flames, Magoolaghan said.

Samantha Shader then attempted to flee the scene, and a foot chase ensued, Magoolaghan said.

As police attempted to take Samantha Shader into custody, her sister, Darian Shader physically attempted to stop officers from making an arrest by jumping on one of them and biting him on the leg, Magoolaghan said.

Darian Shader was charged with resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration, Magoolaghan said. Both women were scheduled to be arraigned Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

 

 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also called for an independent review of the overnight protests and police response after a video of a city police officer forcefully pushing a standing protester to the ground went viral on social media with thousands of shares.
“The public deserves answers and they deserve accountability,” Cuomo said Saturday during a pandemic briefing at the New Settlement Community Center in the Bronx.
New York’s attorney general is an independently elected official position, Cuomo said, adding he is confident James will conduct an impartial investigation.
“She has proven herself competent and capable of being independent,” the governor added. “Let’s see if we can learn what was done right and what was done wrong.”
Earlier Friday, prosecutors charged ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Chauvin and the other three police officers involved in Floyd’s detainment were all fired Tuesday, one day after Floyd’s death. Video recorded during the incident showed Floyd, handcuffed behind his back, facedown on the street with Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. During that time, Floyd said he couldn’t breathe and then he became unresponsive as Chauvin continued to hold his knee on Floyd’s neck. Police said they were trying to arrest Floyd as part of a forgery investigation.
Hundreds of people gathered at a Black Lives Matter protest at Albany’s Townsend Park that moved into Washington Park and back Saturday afternoon. The rally was led by a local chapter of social, racial and environmental justice lobbying group Citizen Action of New York.
Thousands of protesters have rallied in U.S. cities across the nation in the days following Floyd’s death, including in Atlanta, Houston, Denver among several others, with more events planned this weekend in Newark, New Jersey and Columbia, South Carolina.
Many more people of color have died from COVID-19 than white Americans. Cuomo related the health care disparity to the nationwide protests or looting following Floyd’s death.
The governor named several black New Yorkers and other Americans of color who were victims of police brutality over the last three decades, including Rodney King, Amadou Diallo and Eric Garner.
“These are not disconnected situations,” said Cuomo, adding the racial disparity dates back hundreds of years in American history. “We have an injustice in the criminal justice system that is abhorrent. We have an injustice in the criminal justice system, which is the basic purveyor of justice in this society. It’s not just George Floyd.
“The names change, but the color doesn’t. And that is the painful reality of this situation.”
Cuomo discouraged protesters from looting or turning demonstrations into violent or criminal activities. The governor said Friday and Saturday he shares their outrage and figuratively stands with them, but violence hurts the message.
“Violence is never the answer — it’s counterproductive,” the governor said. “The violence averts the righteousness of the mission...It allows people to scapegoat and point to the violence rather than the action that creates the reaction.”
Ten more COVID-19 testing sites will open in 10 coronavirus “hotspot” ZIP codes that state officials identified with rigorous diagnostic and antibody testing. The virus remains most prevalent in low-income neighborhoods in Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn where COVID-19 infection rates are more than 40% or twice the 19.9% infection rate of the city’s general population.
The Capital District and Western New York could start phase-II businesses of the state’s four-phase reopening plan for nonessential businesses next week. The state requires at least 14 days, or one COVID-19 infection cycle, between phases. Western New York started reopening May 19. The Capital District followed on May 20.
Professional services including barber shops and hair salons, finance and insurance, retail, administrative support, real estate and rental leasing industries and other office-based work can reopen in the second phase.
New York’s COVID-19 fatalities reached 23,848 Saturday — up from 23,780 Friday. Johns Hopkins University & Medicine’s online COVID-19 tracker, which includes probable virus deaths in its tally, listed the state’s virus death toll as 29,646.
The state saw a repeated 67 virus-related deaths Friday, including 47 in hospitals and 20 in nursing homes. New York’s COVID-19 death rate remains flat after having 67 fatalities Thursday and 74 fatalities Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Overall, that has been tremendous, tremendous progress from where we were,” Cuomo said.
The state tested 2,005,381 people in total by Saturday, revealing 369,660 total positive cases of the virus. New York’s hospitalization rates continued a downward trend to 3,619 patients, down 162, according to the governor’s office.
New York City continues to prepare for a June 8 reopening. Officials will focus on the city’s hospital system next week to procure sufficient personal protective equipment in case of a second wave of the virus. Hospitals and health care centers cannot scramble for supplies, equipment and staffing if the state has another COVID-19 outbreak. They must coordinate a plan now to shift patients and resources — not in the midst of a crisis, Cuomo said.
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