OUT ON BAIL IN BOMB AID
Bond was set Monday in the case of a Catskills man accused of providing materials used to make a Molotov cocktail hurled at an NYPD vehicle during a George Floyd protest.
Timothy Amerman, 29, of Saugerties, is charged with providing glass bottles, paint and a hammer to his friend Samantha Shader to throw at Brooklyn cops and counterprotesters during protests on May 29, according to the criminal complaint.
At a hearing held in Albany, Amerman’s lawyer argued his client should not be sent to Brooklyn to face charges but instead home to the Catskills so he can continue working as a painter as he fights his case in court.
Attorney Tim Austin argued Amerman had been punished on account of Shader’s “dangerous, stupid conduct” and was himself a lawabiding citizen who played no role in the incident that took place on the corner of Eastern Parkway and Washington Ave. in Crown Heights.
“Whether or not there’s a close enough connection between the two is certainly to be debated,” Austin said. “I can’t tell whether, if all of the facts in the complaint are true, it even establishes a crime under the statute that’s been cited.”
Based on Amerman’s lack of a criminal record, U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Stewart set $10,000 unsecured bond and issued home detention with electronic monitoring. Amerman must also submit to random drug testing and can’t drink alcohol while his case plays out.
“I know under your circumstances that’s going to be difficult,” Stewart said. “But you will be tested.”
Amerman was implicated in the car bombing after authorities uncovered a note he allegedly left for Shader before she made her way down to the city. He did not attend the protests and was not charged with being present at the car bombing.
“I found a few more glass bottles than I thought I had, though still not many,” wrote Amerman, according to court papers. “BE SAFE. Please. Really. Good luck, love Tim.”
In interviews with detectives, Shader allegedly tried to pin her possession of the bomb-making materials on two fictitious people she met in the crowd — who she claimed were black.
Shader said the Molotov cocktail was handed to her by a “thicker” black man “with skinny dreads” of different colors, as well as a second black man and woman, according to court papers.
The black man, Shader claimed, told her they intended to “prove a point” with the homemade bomb. She told investigators she didn’t know the trio but “felt important at the time she took the bottle because she was the only white person in the area,” court papers say.
Shader remains in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, charged with attempting to use improvised incendiary devices after she was caught on video throwing a gasoline-filled bottle at the car occupied by four NYPD officers.
If convicted, Amerman faces up to 10 years in prison.