Citing equal protection concerns, Superior County Judge William Delker warranted a new sentence for a Black teenager charged with rioting after a 2020 protest in Manchester over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Antwan Stroud must complete 50 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to the police officer he threatened. Stroud originally faced a sentence that included 30 days in jail.
Over a dozen people were arrested in Manchester during protests in June of 2020. But advocates raised questions around racial bias in the sentencing of those arrested.
Stroud’s previous sentence was vacated earlier this year after Stroud’s lawyers questioned why another protestor, Kyle Toledo, who is white and faced almost identical charges, was allowed to avoid jail time.
As he resentenced, Stroud, Judge Delker said for him, the issue isn’t one of racial bias.
Delker defended Stroud’s original sentence of 30 days in jail, as fair. What wasn’t fair, Delker said, was that a person who he called Stroud’s “partner in crime” received a lesser punishment.
“The issue before me is treating people who are accomplices, and who acted in tandem with one another. Both have unblemished criminal records. They should be treated the same,’ Delker said.
Stroud now lives in Berlin and said he’s working towards a GED.
In an interview with NHPR for a previous story, Stroud said he was mad about what happened to Floyd.
"That could have been me," he said. “I have so many Black friends, I'm Black. That could have been any one of us killed.”
At the courthouse, he also said police in Manchester have pulled their guns on him multiple times.
Donna Brown, Stroud’s lawyer, joined him to speak to reporters.
“This was a very big deal for him and very very scary,” she said.
