Alvin Bragg, Manhattan District Attorney, held a Thursday afternoon press conference to announce charges against seven illegal immigrants involved in a heinous assault on two NYPD officers late in January.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, in response to the public’s outrage after the attack, announced the charges.
Bragg stated during a press conference that “this assault… sickened and outraged” him. “As a New Yorker for my entire life, I will not tolerate any attacks on police officers. And I certainly won’t do so as Manhattan District Attorney.”
Of the seven indicted suspects, five were previously arrested before being released with no bail. Two others are being sought. Darwin Andres Gomez, 19, Wilson Juarez, 21, Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19, and Yorman Reveron, 24, were part of the initial group of four who were arrested and let go.
Police claim that the suspects have fled town for California. Jhoan Báda, 22 was arrested and released later before flinging the bird at waiting reporters.
Police say in the viral video that the migrant is seen stomping on the head of a lieutenant as he tries to arrest a suspect lying on the ground. The migrant kicks another officer in the back, before returning to kick the lieutenant.
Six men are still at large. Fox News reported that the four men arrested on a bus bound for Phoenix in Arizona are not those suspected of the attack. Yohenry Brito (24), one of the four men arrested in Arizona on a bus bound for Phoenix, is not suspected in the attack.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams stated that he supported deportation when it comes to cases like this. He said: “It’s my strong belief that the federal government should deport a person if they are found guilty of a serious crime – felony or violent crime.”
It remains to be determined whether the men responsible are located and brought before justice.
Bragg, for his part, said that there was a lot of confusion about the identities of the men. A group is seen in the blurry surveillance footage approaching the two officers outside a 42nd Street shelter. Communication problems between federal and local authorities are not helping the situation.
He told reporters that Mayor Eric Adams was in attendance at the event.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials released a statement earlier this week stating that they had detained four men from Arizona in connection to the Times Square case. New York law enforcement officials said the men detained had no relation to their case (the men weren’t linked to Times Square as Bragg stated in a press release).
The police believe that up to thirteen people could have been involved in this January’s attack. The indictment was not immediately available Thursday. Details about the seven individuals charged were not clear. Bragg, however, said that he was confident his office had identified the role of everyone who participated in and broke the law.
