NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- City Councilmember Chi Osse, an ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, was arrested during an anti-eviction protest in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Earlier on Wednesday, officers detained Osse and other protesters, sparking backlash among local lawmakers including City Council Speaker Julie Menin and the mayor.
Mamdani said the arrest was “incredibly concerning” and that he’ll look further into it. In a social media post, Menin echoed those concerns and said she was in touch with Osse’s office.
Law enforcement officers were carrying out an eviction at a home in Brooklyn where they were refused entry, and after giving verbal warnings to protesters they made several arrests, including of Osse, according to a spokesperson. He was charged with obstructing a governmental administration and two counts of disorderly conduct and was given a desk appearance ticket, the spokesperson said.
Osse’s office defended his actions in a post on X, saying he was supporting Black homeowners whose residences were being stolen through deed theft, when the title to a home is taken without the owner’s knowledge or approval. The New York state attorney general’s office said it has reviewed a dispute about the Brooklyn property and determined it was not a case of deed theft.
A video of the incident shared by the council member’s office shows Osse being thrown to the ground by law enforcement.
“We condemn, in the strongest terms, this violent act of policing and the predatory deed theft policies faced by homeowners across our city and demand no one be displaced as they fight their cases,” Councilmembers Alexa Aviles, Tiffany Caban and Shahana Hanif said in a statement.
