Lang
10/31/20
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of an Iowa City protest leader who police say tried to blind their officers during a demonstration last summer.
Online records indicate 24-year-old Matthew Bruce, an organizer for the Des Moines Black Liberation Movement, failed to appear at his scheduled arraignment on Friday in Johnson County District Court. Judge Paul Miller has since issued a bench warrant for Bruce’s arrest. Bond is set at $10,000.
Bruce was initially arrested on August 31st after a Black Lives Matter protest that saw demonstrators march from the Pentacrest to North Dubuque Street, near the Interstate 80 interchange. Police say that while at University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld’s Church Street residence around 8:30pm, Bruce pointed a laser beam into the eyes of multiple officers, causing injuries which needed medical treatment. He reportedly ran when officers approached him, and they located him at 11:40pm on the 100 block of South Linn Street.
Bruce faces nine counts of assault on a peace officer with intent to injure, six counts of assault on persons in certain occupations causing bodily injury and one charge of interference with official acts. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum of 57 years in prison.