'Grandmaster Jay' sentenced to prison on federal charges connected with Breonna Taylor protests

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- John Johnson, who goes by the name of "Grandmaster Jay," was sentenced in U.S. District Court in downtown Louisville Wednesday for pointing a rifle at a federal officer during Breonna Taylor protests in 2020.

Johnson was sentenced to seven years and two months in prison after a jury in May 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."

He was facing up to 20 years in prison.

The incident took place while various groups were protesting at Jefferson Square Park in downtown Louisville in September 2020. 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.

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.

During his trial, Johnson 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."

Federal prisoners must serve at least two-thirds of their sentence.