This Monday, Michael McKinney, 26, of St. Charles, Iowa was sentenced to 10-years in prison for shooting at a car full of Black teenage girls.
The incident occurred during a Des Moines rally for former President Trump in December of last year. In June of this year McKinney pleaded guilty to a charge of intimidation with a dangerous weapon and willful injury.
According to authorities, the girls in the car and rally goers exchanged some insults and soon the girls’ car was surrounded with Trump supporters. They backed up and hit a pickup truck. That was when McKinney shot in the car injuring one of the girls in the leg. It was reported that McKinney was wearing body armor and carrying more than a few weapons. The assailant told the police he was shooting in his protection because he felt he was in danger.
The girl who was shot in the leg stated that she believed she would die that day and she was afraid she would not walk again.
McKinney has been in custody since his arrest. He has apologized to the girl for his poor judgement.
It is believed that authorities downplayed this incident with political and racial context, stating this escalated from a traffic dispute. Trump supporters criticized authorities for charging McKinney who, in their opinion, was scaring away the car to protect the rally goers.
The judge took into consideration the fact that McKinney does not have a criminal record and he was honorably discharged from the military before ordering two sentences to run consecutively for a maximum of 10 years. There is no mandatory minimum to be served before McKinney could be eligible for parole.
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