LOUISVILLE, Ky. — John “Grandmaster Jay” Johnson, leader of the “Not F***ing Around Coalition” that visited Louisville several times last year for protests over the death of Breonna Taylor, has been indicted in federal court on charges related to him allegedly pointing an assault rifle at officers the night before the Kentucky Derby.
A grand jury on Wednesday indicted Johnson, of West Chester, Ohio, on one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers or employees and one count of brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.
The first charge can carry an enhanced penalty of up to 20 years in prison if the person “uses a deadly or dangerous weapon” or “inflicts bodily injury,” according to federal statutes, and/or a $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release.
Conviction on the firearm brandishing charge can result in a prison sentence of at least seven years, per federal statutes, and/or the same fine and supervised release term as the first charge.
Johnson, 57, was arrested Dec. 3 at his Ohio home and taken to Louisville for an initial court appearance that month, federal authorities previously said. He has been out of jail while his case has progressed in court.
Johnson has a public defender, and an arraignment hearing in the federal case is scheduled for March 17.
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Johnson also faces five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment in Jefferson District Court in connection with the same actions alleged in the federal case. A preliminary hearing in the state case is scheduled for Friday.
Johnson and the NFAC, his armed Black group based out of Atlanta, first visited Louisville last July to demand justice for Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman whom Louisville Metro Police officers fatally shot last March during a botched drug raid.
The NFAC then returned to Louisville the first weekend in September for the Kentucky Derby, which was rescheduled from its usual May date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Johnson and hundreds of other protesters marched for Taylor and rallied outside Churchill Downs during Derby weekend.
Johnson allegedly brandished and aimed “an AR platform rifle” at an FBI agent, a Secret Service agent and three LMPD officers while they were on the roof of a downtown building about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 4, the night before Derby, according to a federal complaint.
A police radio transmission had reported “six to eight heavily armed individuals were parked on Armory Place next to the parking garage structure” and the officers went to the roof of the building, per the complaint.
Three of the officers on the roof were “blinded by a light which they shortly thereafter determined was a flashlight mounted to the rifle being aimed at them by Johnson,” according to the complaint.
The FBI reviewed Real Time Crime Center camera footage taken from the MetroSafe building, according to the complaint, with two screenshots of the incident included in the criminal file.
“Here in Kentucky we revere our First and Second Amendment freedoms, not foolishness which puts police and protesters at grave risk,” then-U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman said in a statement following Johnson’s arrest.
“The FBI respects the rights of individuals to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights,” Coleman continued. “Our mission of protecting the American people and upholding the Constitution is dual and simultaneous, not contradictory. Accordingly, we are committed to investigating violent behavior and those who are exploiting legitimate, peaceful protests and engaging in violations of federal law.”
Johnson and other protesters demanded last year that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron charge the three LMPD officers who fired their weapons when Taylor was fatally shot inside her apartment on March 13, 2020.
Protesters were left angered after a grand jury declined to indict any of the officers in connection with Taylor’s death.
Only since-fired Officer Brett Hankison was indicted on wanton endangerment charges — not for shooting Taylor, but for firing bullets that went into a neighboring apartment.
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The fallout over Taylor’s death has not ended, with several other officers facing termination, several grand jurors accusing Cameron of misleading the public and the FBI continuing its own investigation into the case.
The indictment says Johnson shall forfeit “firearms and ammunition involved in the commission of the offenses, including but not limited to a Del-Ton, Inc. (DTI) AR-15” containing one magazine.
Johnson’s West Chester home was searched Dec. 3, court documents say, and agents seized six assault-style rifles, ammunition, rifle magazines and body armor.
Investigators were looking for the rifle Johnson allegedly used in Louisville, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
In an application for a search warrant, an FBI agent said the NFAC eventually wants to form a new country “owned and created by Black people.”
As the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA Today Network, reported last month, Johnson described his group’s long-term goals in an interview with media during the September protests in Louisville. He talked about acquiring land from various African leaders and eventually being part of the United Nations.
“We need our own home. We need our own culture. We need our own money,” he said. “We need our own military. We need to be able to determine our own destiny. So when you kill one of us, you got to deal with our grief.”
A Change.org petition signed by over 1,500 supporters of Johnson says the evidence is “not sufficient to move forward with the indictment” and that charging him “would be a mischaracterization of justice.”
The petition says Johnson “was unaware of who was on the rooftop” during the night of Sept. 4, with opposing groups such as the Proud Boys “possibly present” and on the rooftops during that time.
The petition says “it is not far fetched to understand that Johnson was simply doing everything he can to verify the safety of everyone.”
The petition signers, who call themselves “We The People,” said Johnson planned several “peaceful events” in Louisville last summer “without any arrests of members of the NFAC.”
“Johnson has always made sure he has had the proper permits and licenses to have his events and peacefully assemble within the confines of all local, state, and federal laws,” the petition said.
In a December interview posted on YouTube, Johnson said he is fighting both his federal and state cases.
“You all know they’re doing this to break me financially, because they’re going to drag it out,” he said. “They’re going to throw everything they have at me, because we know this whole thing is bull—-.”
*story by The Courier Journal
