Video footage from a surveillance camera shows a group of migrants kicking and punching the officers while they attempted to carry out the arrest last Saturday near a migrant shelter around 8:30 p.m. on West 42nd St. near 7th Ave.Two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers and a lieutenant from the city’s Midtown South Precinct were attacked by migrants after trying to arrest one of the men in connection with a disorderly crowd.
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NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell referred to the incident as "reprehensible" and called the attackers "cowards."
"You have eight people attacking a lieutenant and a cop," he said during Jan. 31 press conference. "The four that were arrested should be sitting in Rikers right now on bail. [They] should be indicted this week and taken off our streets."
Chell added: "You wanna know why our cops are getting assaulted? There's no consequences. And we must change this." " You want to know why our cops are getting assaulting ? There's no Consequences ? @NYPDChiefPatrol https://t.co/hwa1eiSfjs
— Viral News NYC (@ViralNewsNYC) January 31, 2024
Four of the suspects were released without bail after their arraignment, the New York Daily News reported. “Attacks on police officers are becoming an epidemic, and the reason is [the] revolving door we’re seeing in cases like this one,” Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement quoted by the Daily News. “It is impossible for police officers to deal effectively with crime and disorder if the justice system can’t or won’t protect us while we do that work.” The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office says that an investigation into the incident is ongoing. Police identified the suspects as Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servat Arocha, 19, Juarez Wilson, 21, and Yorman Reveron, 24. "We now have additional video surveillance that was not available at the time of arraignment and are continuing to speak to witnesses in order to determine the specific role of each defendant," the DA's office told Fox News Digital. The incident is likely to heighten tensions among New Yorkers over the influx of migrants into the local community. Since the spring of 2022, more than 172,000 migrants who illegally entered the U.S. through the southern border have flooded into New York, with more than 67,000 still being housed in city shelters and hotels. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been more active in trying to address the migrant crisis, which is exacerbated by state laws that require local officials to care for migrants. Adams recently traveled to Mexico in a bid to have officials help stem the flow to the U.S. He also joined four other Democratic mayors in requesting $5 billion in federal funds to help manage the crisis.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story did not include comments from John Chell.
