Grandmaster Jay, whose legal name is John Fitzgerald Johnson, was sentenced on November 9, 2022, to seven years and two months in federal prison for assaulting federal task force officers and brandishing a firearm during a racial justice protest in Louisville, Kentucky. A federal jury in the Western District of Kentucky convicted him on both counts in May 2022, and the court added three years of supervised release to follow the 86-month prison term.1U.S. Department of Justice. Cincinnati Man Sentenced to 7 Years and 2 Months in Federal Prison for Assaulting and Brandishing Two months later, he received a concurrent one-year state sentence in Kentucky that added no additional time.
What He Was Convicted Of
The conduct behind the sentence took place on September 4, 2020, when the Not F***ing Around Coalition (NFAC), the all-Black armed group Johnson founded and leads, marched near Churchill Downs to protest the Kentucky Derby and the police killing of Breonna Taylor. Federal and local officers had been posted on the roof of the Jefferson County Grand Jury Building to observe the march. According to prosecutors, Johnson aimed an AR-platform rifle fitted with a barrel-mounted flashlight at those officers.2U.S. Secret Service. NFAC Leader Grandmaster Jay Charged With Assaulting Law Enforcement Officers The officers said the flashlight blinded them as they looked over the edge of the roof.
Five officers were on the rooftop: two federal task force members from the FBI and Secret Service, and three officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department.3WDRB. Grandmaster Jay Sentenced for Pointing Rifle at Officers During Breonna Taylor Protest The FBI arrested Johnson at his home in West Chester, Ohio, on December 3, 2020, and a federal grand jury indicted him in October 2021 on two counts: assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers, and brandishing a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.4WAVE 3 News. Federal Trial for Grandmaster Jay Scheduled to Begin This Week
The Federal Trial
The trial opened in U.S. District Court in Louisville in May 2022. Prosecutors played city surveillance footage that appeared to show Johnson pointing the rifle and its attached flashlight up toward the rooftop. Their key witness was Aubrey Gregory, then the Louisville Metro Police special operations coordinator, who testified that before an earlier NFAC rally he had specifically told Johnson armed officers would be positioned on top of buildings during the protests, and that Johnson appeared to understand.5WAVE 3 News. Federal Trial Begins for NFAC Leader Grandmaster Jay An FBI agent, a task force member, and a firearms examiner also testified for the government.
The defense argued that Johnson did not realize the people on the roof were police officers until he turned on the flashlight to see who was there.5WAVE 3 News. Federal Trial Begins for NFAC Leader Grandmaster Jay Johnson took the stand himself and testified about his role leading the NFAC.6WDRB. Grandmaster Jay Sentenced to Prison on Federal Charges Connected With Breonna Taylor Protests The jury convicted on both counts.
Why the Sentence Is Seven Years and Two Months
The 86-month term reflects the statutory floor, not a judge’s discretionary choice at the middle of a range. The court noted that seven years was the minimum sentence required for the offenses of conviction, which carried a statutory maximum of 20 years.7WLKY. Louisville Grandmaster Jay Sentence Prison Breonna Taylor Protests The brandishing count is what drives that mandatory minimum.
The federal system has no parole. Federal prisoners are required to serve at least two-thirds of their sentence.8Spectrum News 1. Grand Master Jay NFAC Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison Measured from his November 2022 sentencing date, that puts his earliest possible release somewhere in 2027 or 2028. Available reporting does not identify his current facility or give a more precise projected release date. After release, he faces three years of supervised release.1U.S. Department of Justice. Cincinnati Man Sentenced to 7 Years and 2 Months in Federal Prison for Assaulting and Brandishing
The Kentucky State Case
The same rooftop incident produced a parallel state prosecution. In Jefferson Circuit Court, Johnson faced five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, one for each officer on the roof. On January 26, 2023, he entered an Alford plea to all five counts, acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him while maintaining his innocence.3WDRB. Grandmaster Jay Sentenced for Pointing Rifle at Officers During Breonna Taylor Protest
The court imposed one year on each count, with all five running concurrently with one another and concurrently with the federal sentence. The plea therefore added no time to his existing seven-year federal term. The state sentence was also tied to the federal case in a specific way: if the federal conviction is overturned on appeal, the state sentence is set aside as well.9WLKY. Grandmaster Jay Plea State Charges Louisville Breonna Taylor
Appeal Status
After the November 2022 sentencing, Johnson’s attorney, Murdoch Walker II, said he intended to appeal the federal conviction.10Cincinnati Enquirer. Militia Leader Grandmaster Jay Sentenced Breonna Taylor Protests Louisville The available record does not confirm whether the appeal was formally filed or where it stands.
Who Grandmaster Jay Is
Johnson, an Ohio resident who was 57 at the time of his December 2020 arrest,11U.S. Department of Justice. Feds Charge NFAC Leader Grandmaster Jay founded the Not F***ing Around Coalition, an all-Black armed militia group. CNN reported the group was founded in 2017 and is based in Atlanta,12CNN. NFAC Black Armed Group and its first documented public appearance was a May 2019 counter-protest against a Ku Klux Klan event in Dayton, Ohio.13The Trace. NFAC Black Militia Grandmaster Jay Prosecution
Johnson has described the group’s purpose as educating Black Americans about their constitutional rights and protecting Black communities, and has said that carrying firearms transforms people from “subjects” to “citizens.”13The Trace. NFAC Black Militia Grandmaster Jay Prosecution He has said the NFAC is “neither left-wing, nor right-wing” and is not affiliated with Black Lives Matter.12CNN. NFAC Black Armed Group The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the NFAC as a hate group.14WESH. 4 Things to Know About Othal Wallace’s Connection to Black Militia
The group rose to national visibility in the summer of 2020 through a series of armed marches: a rally in Brunswick, Georgia, for Ahmaud Arbery; a July 4, 2020 gathering that brought an estimated 1,000 armed members to Stone Mountain, Georgia, to demand removal of the park’s Confederate monument;15Newsweek. Armed Black Demonstrators Challenge White Supremacist Militia at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park and multiple Louisville rallies over the police killing of Breonna Taylor. The September 4, 2020 Louisville march is the one that produced Johnson’s federal case and the seven-year, two-month sentence he is now serving.