Central figure in Indy’s 2020 riots gets 10 years in prison for violence in Oregon protests
PORTLAND, Oregon (WISH) — The central figure in a pivotal moment in the 2020 Indianapolis riots was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in a state prison after pleading guilty to trying to kill a Portland, Oregon, police officer.
Malik Fard Muhammad, 25, had pleaded guilty to 14 felony charges, including attempted murder, in federal and Oregon courts.
On Monday, he’d pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of possessing unregistered destructive devices in federal court, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland. He will be sentenced in June on those charges, although his sentence is not expected to be extended.
The Oregon judge also ordered Muhammad to pay $200,000 in restitution, local news reports say.
Muhammad was a central figure in a June 1, 2020, standoff with police at the Governor’s Residence during Indianapolis riots. News 8 was live as the standoff dissipated and police walked back toward downtown Indianapolis with protesters, including Muhammad, who hugged a police officer. The walk along Meridian Street happened shortly after police warned people to disperse or be met with “reasonable force.”
Mayor Joe Hogsett commended the police for their handling of the effort to let the protesters speak their minds.
Gov. Eric Holcomb met with Muhammad four days after the standoff outside the gate of the Governor’s Residence at 46th and Meridian streets. After the meeting, the governor said in a statement, ““Historic journeys take historic first steps. Malik and I took one, together, today.”
Muhammad is a former Army tank specialist and a former Delaware County, Indiana, dairy farm worker. During Muhammad’s sentencing, reports say, the Oregon judge noted the veteran has been diagnosed with post-traumatic disorder and a bipolar disorder, but had not taken his medication at the time of the protests.
In Portland, investigators say Muhammad and his girlfriend traveled from Indianapolis to Portland in the summer of 2020 to participate in local riots. During a large disturbance Sept. 5, 2020, in east Portland, Muhammad had provided baseball bats to protestors and bragged about it according to what investigators found on his cellphone after his arrest in October 2020.
On Sept. 21, 2020, Muhammad threw a yellow glass growler with a Goodwill sticker on the bottom, a cloth wick and an ignitable fluid at the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Penumbra Kelly Building, landing 15 feet from a police sound truck. Investigators determined Muhammad and his girlfriend had bought the bottle at a Goodwill, and a DNA analysis linked the bottle to Muhammad.
Portland police on Monday released video from Sept. 23, 2020, when police say Muhammad threw a large, burning object at a group of officers outside the Mulnomah County Justice Center. A police description matched the description of the yellow bottle used in the Sept. 21 incident. The bottle exploded, and most officers got out of the way of the fireball that came out, but one officer’s lower leg briefly caught fire. Police say a search of Muhammad’s cellphone uncovered a shopping list that included “common ingredients to make a Molotov cocktail,” court documents allege.
On Oct. 11, 2020, police say Muhammad use a metal baton to smash the windows of several buildings during a protest involving about 250 people. Buildings vandalized included the Oregon Historical Society, Portland State University and a Starbucks coffee shop. “Muhammad possessed a loaded handgun magazine in his pocket,” the release from the Portland U.S. attorney said. “A loaded handgun matching the magazine found on Muhammad’s person was found discarded near the location of his arrest.”
Nathan Vasquez, senior deputy district attorney in Oregon, told News 8’s Demie Johnson that the case surrounding Muhammad is a sad chapter that’s finally come to an end.