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SALT LAKE CITY — The man who pointed a bow and arrow at Salt Lake City protesters in what prosecutors contended was a racially motivated display of aggression will spend a year in jail.
Third District Judge Paul Parker sentenced Brandon Earl McCormick on Monday to three years of probation after the jail time.
McCormick, 58, pleaded guilty in September to possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and aggravated assault, both third-degree felonies.
Video taken at a violent May 30 protest outside Salt Lake City's downtown library shows McCormick quickly raising and lowering the weapon in multiple directions at those protesting the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
McCormick did not injure anyone before a group swarmed and pummeled him, and was later pulled away by police as blood streamed down his face. Several demonstrators overturned his SUV and set it on fire.
McCormick's defense attorney Zoraya Gappmaier has previously said her client made a poor choice after losing his job in the pandemic. Gappmaier said he was using liquor to cope with depression at the time. Prosecutors have countered that McCormick spent much of his adult life in prison in California and other states and that his record includes violent offenses.
At a preliminary hearing in July, a driver who stopped near the library testified that McCormick was lunging at protesters with a knife, yelling "all lives matter" and using the N-word before training the bow and arrow at several people.
The judge on Monday suspended two consecutive prison terms of up to five years for each conviction, meaning McCormick could go to prison for 10 years if he violates the terms of his supervised release.
Parker also ordered McCormick to give up his weapons, take an anger management class and undergo evaluations for substance abuse and mental health treatment.
