Timothy Amerman, a painter from Saugerties, is facing charges carrying a prison term of up to 10 years for supplying Catskill resident Samantha Shader with materials to “cause some hell” in New York City on May 29 during protests in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The supplies included a bottle that Shader allegedely fashioned into a Molotov cocktail and tossed at an unoccupied police vehicle.
Shader was caught on camera in the act and arrested that day. During questioning she claimed that an unfamiliar black man handed her the incendiary device, and she accepted because she was the only white person in the area. In her car, however, was a note with Amerman’s prints on it that made reference to giving Shader bottles. Authorities claim he admitted to supplying her with bottles and other supplies for the drive to Brooklyn, including cannabis, along with ten dollars for gas. According to the complaint against him, he expected the bottles to be used as “projectiles to throw at police and counter-protestors,” but denied knowing that the bottles and gasoline might be combined.
Investigators found Facebook posts by Amerman in which he expressed support for rioting and looting; Shader admits to also posting the same phrase, “black people have every right to burn down a country they built for free.” Amerman also acknowledged on Facebook that he declined an invitation to go to New York City to “get saucey[sic],” but instead he “kitted out some others.” Prosecutors additionally assert in the complaint that Amerman admitted to be fond of Bulleit bourbon, the brand in which Shader’s makeshift explosive was bottled.
Amerman was arraigned in Albany on charges of civil disorder and civil disorder conspiracy, which could result in a sentence of 10 years. Some friends on Facebook have posted a link to a crowdfunding campaign to support him, but the campaign appears to have been removed.