A man who was seen on video charging Black Lives Matter protesters while wearing a "glove of blades", and later trying to run them over, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, the Queens district attorney announced Tuesday.
Frank Cavalluzzi, 58, was convicted last summer of nine counts of attempted murder and other charges in the June 2020 attack in Whitestone. That attack began with Cavalluzzi yelling racial slurs at Black Lives Matter supporters protesting the death of George Floyd. It escalated.
People were peacefully gathering on the overpass above the Cross Island Parkway when the Flushing man drove by, cursing, and yelling, "You are in the wrong neighborhood," according to court documents and trial testimony.
He stopped his SUV and jumped out, chasing protesters while wearing a leather glove with four long serrated blades attached to it, prosecutors claimed.
Then he got back into his vehicle, yelled, "I will kill you" and drove on the sidewalk, accelerating and aiming at the demonstrators. They ran to avoid getting hit, prosecutors said.
No injuries were reported.
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In addition to the prison sentence, Cavalluzzi faces five years of post-release supervision.
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"A dangerous man is being held accountable for unleashing terror on peaceful demonstrators who were simply exercising their First Amendment right," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement announcing the sentence Tuesday. "Thankfully, the victims were not physically harmed and we secured justice on their behalf."
