Four suspects arrested over alleged Times Square attack on police
Four suspects believed to have been involved in an attack on police officers in Times Square were detained in Arizona after attempting to “flee” New York, intensifying a row over the country’s immigration crisis.
Six migrants were arrested last month after a gang of more than a dozen men beat two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers to the ground.
Five of the suspects were released without bail, sparking fierce criticism from both sides of the political spectrum and inflaming tensions over one of the US’s most divisive issues.
The attack has since been seized upon by the Trump campaign, with the former president sharing CCTV footage of the officers being kicked in the head, spliced with images of the southern border.
With 6.3 million migrants having crossed the US border illegally since 2021 and cities buckling under the pressure of the influx, both Donald Trump and Joe Biden know immigration will be a deciding factor in November’s election.
On Saturday, Lieut Ben Kurian and officer Tian Zunxu tried to break up a disorderly group outside a migrant shelter in Midtown Manhattan.
When the officers tried to arrest one of the men and wrestled him to the ground, the gang set upon the officers to free their friend and left the pair with minor injuries.
Assaulting a police officer is considered a federal crime in the US and it can serve as grounds for deportation.
The six men, believed to be Venezuelans who arrived in the city last year, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attack.
One of those arrested, Jhoan Boada, 22, infuriated critics after he stuck both middle fingers up at journalists covering his release.
Kathy Hochul, the state’s Democrat governor, said “get them all and send them back” after she disagreed with the decision not to set bail by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney.
“You don’t touch our police officers; you don’t touch anybody,” she added.
Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said the four individuals arrested on Tuesday were “believed to be fleeing the state of New York from their suspected involvement in a coordinated assault on multiple NYPD officers”.
They were travelling to a Greyhound bus station in Phoenix from El Paso, Texas, on the US/Mexico border.
Officials are trying to determine whether they are the same men who are believed to have left New York on a bus to California after being charged in the attack.
Yohenry Brito, the man who allegedly sparked the violence by resisting arrest, appeared in court on Tuesday where he was charged for his role in the assault. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on Rikers Island on $15,000 bail.
John Chell, the NYPD chief of patrol, criticised the decision to release all of the men without bail last week.
“Reprehensible,” he said.“You want to know why our cops are getting assaulted? There are no consequences.”
Eric Adams, the Democrat mayor who has been at odds with Mr Biden over the migrant crisis, said he believes repeat offenders should be deported.
“There is a privilege to be here and participate in the American dream. I don’t have the authority to do that. The city council would have to do that,” Mr Adams said.
