A jury convicted a National Socialist Movement commander Wednesday for a January 2022 attack on a Jewish man who confronted a group of neo-Nazi demonstrators near Waterford Lakes in east Orlando, the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office announced.
The verdict comes two years after 48-year-old Burt Colucci, at the time a commander of the neo-Nazi organization, was captured on video pepper spraying David Newstat, a University of Central Florida student who approached demonstrators after Colucci and others spat at his car and hurled antisemitic slurs.
Newstat was pepper sprayed by Colucci after shoving an older neo-Nazi demonstrator to the ground, according to an arrest affidavit. NSM on its website called for Newstat to be arrested, but he was never charged.
Colucci was later arrested in Polk County.
While Colucci was initially charged with battery evidencing prejudice — a felony hate crime — the jury decided he didn’t target Newstat for being Jewish. At trial, Colucci admitted to swearing at Newstat using antisemitic slurs, and witnesses including Newstat pointed to him as the one who used the pepper spray.
Ultimately, he was found guilty of misdemeanor battery and acquitted of assault evidencing prejudice, another hate crime.
Colucci’s sentencing hearing is set for May 2. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Weeks before his arrest in Orlando, Colucci faced trial in Arizona. He was indicted there for an April 2021 incident where he allegedly pointed a gun at a group of Black people and pepper sprayed them while, he told police, he was on his way to a neo-Nazi rally in Phoenix. That trial was pushed back several times while Colucci faced charges in Florida and is scheduled to take place May 15, according to Maricopa County court records.
Two others were arrested in the 2022 scuffle with Newstat. Joshua Terrell, 48, like Colucci was charged with battery evidencing prejudice after joining in the attack. He pleaded guilty in exchange for a 120-day jail sentence.
A third man, 49-year-old Jason Brown, was initially charged with grand theft after he was accused of taking Newstat’s phone which an affidavit said was later found “damaged beyond repair.” Court records show that charge was dropped months after the altercation.
The confrontation was one of several public rallies by neo-Nazi demonstrators that took place throughout the Orlando area around that time — including one days earlier involving demonstrators hanging signs over an Interstate 4 overpass before the gathering was broken up by Florida Highway Patrol. It’s not clear if charges were brought against them.
The demonstrations prompted denunciations by Democratic and Republican officials alike. Gov. Ron DeSantis — heavily criticized at the time for not speaking out against the neo-Nazis — later called them “some jackasses doing this on the street” while accusing Democrats of politicizing the rallies.