Bicyclist Sentenced In Capital Crescent Trail Attacks: Reports

BETHESDA, MD — A bicyclist who was filmed attacking three college students posting signs for George Floyd on the Capital Crescent Trail last year has been sentenced to probation.

News outlets reported that Anthony Brennan III, 61, of Kensington, was sentenced Tuesday to three years probation and ordered to complete anger management classes.

In December, Brennan pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree assault for June's attack.

The assaults occurred about 12:45 p.m on June 1 as a young man and two young women posted flyers in support of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.

Brennan's face was plastered all over the web after one of the victims posted a video of the assault on social media. In the now-viral video, the man could be seen trying to forcibly grab flyers and a roll of tape from a woman before using his bicycle to charge at another victim who was filming.

"He was just cycling down the trail," one of the victims, who wished to remain anonymous, told Patch. "He videoed us on his first pass by, then stopped about 50 feet past us and asked to see my signs, in a friendly tone. When I went to show him the signs, he ripped them out of my hands and then started to go after my friends. That's when I started recording."

A few days after the incident, Brennan turned himself in to police and apologized.

"I am sick with remorse for the pain and fear I caused the victims on the trail, and online," Brennan said. "I am committed to making amends by addressing, through counseling, the underlying issues that led to my abhorrent behavior."

In Montgomery County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Brennan issued another apology. According to WTOP, he told the victims: "I'm so very sorry."

"I pray this doesn't affect you in the long term. I was in a bad, fragile state. I lost control."