UPDATE (March 17, 2021): The charges against a co-defendant previously listed in this press released has been dismissed after an Erie County grand jury no billed the case against him. 

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 25-year-old Semaj T. Pigram of Buffalo has been arraigned before Buffalo City Court Judge Diane Wray on one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class “C” felony, and one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, a Class “E” felony.

It is alleged that on Monday, June 1, 2020, at approximately 10:00 p.m., the defendant was the passenger of a vehicle that drove through a blockade of law enforcement at a protest on Bailey Avenue and Decker Street in the City of Buffalo. Investigators allegedly recovered a loaded handgun from inside the vehicle. The weapon was reported stolen from West Seneca in January 2020.

Pigram is scheduled to return on Monday, June 22, 2020 at 9:30 a.m. for a felony hearing.

Judge Wray set bail at $100,000.

If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.

The female of driver of the vehicle remains hospitalized at ECMC.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office continues to investigate the incident.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ryan D. Haggerty of the DA’s Tactical Prosecution Unit.

As are all persons accused of a crime, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.