LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- "Grandmaster Jay," who was accused of pointing a rifle at a federal officer during Breonna Taylor protests in downtown Louisville, was found guilty Friday.
John Fitzgerald Johnson faced two federal charges stemming from the alleged incident in September 2020. The incident took place while various groups were protesting at Jefferson Square Park in downtown Louisville. Those groups said they were demonstrating because they felt the Kentucky Derby should not be taking place when no criminal charges had been filed in connection with the death of Taylor.
Surveillance images that federal authorities say show John Johnson (Grandmaster Jay) pointing a rifle at officers. (Source: Probable Cause Affidavit / FBI)
At that time, LMPD officers at the scene received a radio transmission stating that a group of "six to eight heavily armed individuals" were parked on Armory Place, near a parking garage, according to court documents.
Two federal officers and three LMPD officers then went to the top of the nearby Jefferson County Grand Jury Building to watch the group, but were blinded by a flashlight when they leaned over the roof, the affidavit claimed.
Prosecutors said the flashlight was attached to the barrel of a rifle Johnson was pointing at the officers.
Johnson took the stand Thursday and Friday and testified about his position as the leader of NFAC, a Black militia. The jury ultimately found him guilty of one count of "Assaulting, Resisting or Impeding" and one count of "Brandishing a Firearm in Relation to a Crime of Violence."
Johnson could face 20 years in prison.
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