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DES MOINES, Iowa – A man was sentenced Monday to up to 10 years in prison for shooting a car full of black teenage girls after a rally in Iowa for then-President Donald Trump injuring a woman girl.
Michael McKinney, 26, of St. Charles, pleaded guilty in June to intimidation with a dangerous weapon and self-harm in the Dec. 6 shooting after a rally in Des Moines near the State Capitol.
Authorities said the girls in the car and rally attendees exchanged insults when the teenagers’ car was surrounded by Trump supporters. The car backed up, hitting a pickup.
At that point McKinney, an army veteran who wore a bulletproof vest and several guns, shot into the car, hitting a 15-year-old girl in the leg. He later told police he felt in danger and was protecting himself, court records show.
In a statement read to court on Monday, the girl said she believed she was going to die that day and was unsure if she would be able to walk again, the Des Moines Register reported.
McKinney, who has been in custody since his arrest, apologized to the young girl and said he displayed poor judgment that day.
Authorities downplayed the political and racial background to the shooting, saying it was the result of a traffic conflict. The rally was sponsored by Women for America First, the pro-Trump group that then organized the January 6 rally in Washington, DC, ahead of the Capitol riot.
Trump supporters criticized authorities for indicting McKinney, saying his shot protected rally fans by scaring the car off and noting that McKinney frequented pro-police “Back the Blue” rallies.
The judge, noting McKinney’s lack of criminal history and his honorable release from the military, ordered two sentences to be executed simultaneously, for a maximum of 10 years. There is no mandatory minimum sentence that must be served before McKinney becomes eligible for parole.
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