Prominent BLM activist convicted of first-degree robbery

Khalil Coleman, 36-years-old, faces up to 20 years behind bars over his role in an attempted robbery of a drug house in Elsmere, Kentucky, in February 2021.

Elsmere police officers arrested three suspects at the scene of the crime, which included Coleman and a minor, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Elsmere Police Chief Joe Maier provided details of the incident and said the group planned an armed home invasion robbery and attempted to flee when the plan failed. "They went to a drug house to rob a drug house," Maier said. "One of the occupants went up to the drug house and had a Glock handgun with a 50-round magazine drum...When it didn't work, they hurried up and left the scene, jumped in a white vehicle and left."

Maier said police stopped the group after they got boxed in by a snowplow when they attempted to flee, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Authorities said that Coleman was the driver of the escape vehicle. Officers also recovered two handguns from the car, along with drug paraphernalia suspected to be heroin and marijuana, the outlet reports.

Authorities said that Coleman and his accomplice Joshua Clarey, 24-years-old, of New Berlin, coerced a 17-year-old minor to go to an alleged drug house and steal money. Although the jury said they were not convinced that Coleman knew he was a juvenile and they found him not guilty in the lesser charge of unlawful transaction of a minor.

The jury recommended Coleman be sentenced to 10 years in prison, though the charges could lead up to 20 years. A sentencing date for Coleman has not yet been determined, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Coleman is known in the state of Wisconsin for leading anti-police protests on behalf of Milwaukee's "People's Revolution," a radical faction of Black Lives Matter. The group calls on levels of government to answer a set of demands, which include defunding the police, stripping law enforcement of equipment, ending qualified immunity, and others, according to the organization's website.

During the summer of 2020, Coleman was a lead organizer in months-long protests in Milwaukee following Floyd's death in May of that year. The massive protests often turned violent and destructive.

The media praised Coleman as a "brilliant community leader" for his "battle for equity and racial justice" despite the destructive protests and Coleman being an open supporter of the violent Milwaukee street gang "Gangster Disciples," which he claims to have no affiliation except support, according to WisconsinRightNow.

The Post Millennial's editor-at-large Andy Ngo reported that Coleman was a supporter of Gaige Grosskreutz, the gunman shot in the arm by acquitted teen Kyle Rittenhouse during the 2020 Jacob Blake riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Following his arrest in February 2021, far-left activists used the crowdfunding service GoFundMe to raise money for Coleman's bail and legal fees after he was charged with first-degree burglary and unlawful transaction with a minor:

"He has been a pillar in the Milwaukee community for the last decade he has marched with the People's revolution to promote equality for our black and brown brothers and sisters ... He has been a positive roll model and mentor for not only his children but his students as well ... Khalil Coleman is no criminal he is a subject of exactly what CAN happen when you go against your oppressors!" the page reads.