BOSTON (WHDH) - A Boston man is in custody after being charged with assaulting a federal officer in early June following a protest in Boston against police brutality, authorities said.
Officers responding to looting and destruction on Arlington and Newbury streets around 3 a.m. following a day of peaceful protest found the suspect, John Boampong, 37, driving his car near the intersection in front of a store that had been victimized by looting the night before, authorities said.
Boampong was told to leave the area with his passengers when police say he continued driving in reverse until an officer knocked his baton on the car to get his attention.
Boampong left the area, parked on Providence Street and returned with a gun, shooting his firearm 11 times towards officers, including a deputized federal officer, prosecutors said.
Bullets broke through the windows of two apartments above ground level in a building as officers took cover by bracing or ducking behind cars and others objects, court documents said.
Boampong’s car was stopped and a gun was seized from the floor of the front-passenger side of the vehicle, authorities said. He was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition pending state charges carrying potential sentences exceeding one year, according to officials.
Boampong is charged with firearm offenses and violent crime for assaulting a federal officer, authorities said.
He is being detained in state court and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date, US Attorney Andrew Lelling said.
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