No prison for white man who drove into protesters
IOWA CITY, Iowa — A white man who deliberately sped his car through a crowd of racial injustice protesters here, striking several, will avoid prison and have the incident erased from his record if he stays out of trouble for three years.
A judge last month granted a deferred judgment for Michael Ray Stepanek, 45, who told police he drove his Toyota Camry through the crowd in August because the protesters needed “an attitude adjustment.”
The sentence means a felony charge of willful injury resulting in bodily injury against Stepanek will be dismissed and expunged as long as he doesn’t commit a crime
during a three-year term of probation. Judge Paul Miller also suspended a $1,025 fine.
Offenders who commit “forcible felonies” aren’t eligible for deferred judgments, but the charge to which Stepanek pleaded isn’t considered one under Iowa law. He also was eligible for the break because he didn’t have a criminal history.
One of the protesters he hit said Friday that she advocated for no prison sentence, but that she wasn’t aware the case might disappear from the public record.
“I think it’s dangerous to have this kind of case occur and just wipe it away,” said University of Iowa student Eva Sileo. She said it was frustrating to see protesters face harsh charges in other cases while Stepanek gets leniency.
Stepanek’s attorney, John Bruzek, said his client was influenced by social media and political rhetoric characterizing the protesters as dangerous criminals. Stepanek initially believed he was legally justified but has come to see he was wrong and apologized, Bruzek said.
“Michael understands how his conduct could have resulted in a much more serious and harmful situation,” he said.
The Johnson County Attorney’s
Office, which agreed to Stepanek’s plea deal, still is pursuing charges against some Black Lives Matter protesters involved in the demonstrations last summer.
Prosecutors have filed 15 counts, including nine felonies, against a protest leader charged with shining a laser beam light in police officers’ eyes in August.
A 20-year-old Black protester who carried an assault rifle through an Iowa City crowd in June has been indicted on a federal charge of illegally possessing a gun while using marijuana.
The man, who faces up to 10 years in prison, already had been prosecuted by Johnson County on related charges after the gun was found during a traffic stop following the protest.