NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The Manhattan District Attorney's Office released bodycam footage on Thursday from the two officers assaulted in the mob attack outside a Times Square migrant shelter, hours after announcing that seven men have now been indicted in the beating.
The body-worn camera footage above is from the perspective of NYPD Lieutenant Ben Kurian, and the footage below is from the perspective of NYPD Officer Zunxu Tian.
The caught-on-camera brawl on Jan. 27 between the two cops and a group of men, who officials have said are migrants, has fueled fiery debate at the national level as the search for more suspects continues.
At a downtown news conference with Mayor Eric Adams, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg said the identities of the two at-large men remain under seal until they are caught and arraigned in court. He said they are alleged to have “assaulted the officers, kicking and grabbing their legs.”
Calling the video of the attack “horrifying,” Bragg said his office’s job is to gather the facts and make sure the right people are charged based on the evidence available. He noted several factors have made it hard to identify the suspects, including that they switched clothing.
Officials also gave new details about what each of the men charged and named so far is alleged to have done during the melee with officers.
Yohenry Brito, 24, was the man who was “literally at the center of this assault […] wrestling with and doing other things with the officers on the ground,” Bragg said. He faces two counts of assault in the second degree, obstructing governmental administration, tampering with physical evidence and hindering prosecution. He’s been held at Rikers Island since Feb. 1.
Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, allegedly grabbed an officer and kicked another officer. He’s charged with assault in the second degree and obstructing governmental administration.
Yorman Reveron, 24, allegedly grabbed, pulled and threw the officers to the ground. He’s charged with two counts of assault in the second degree and obstructing governmental administration.
Two additional men—Wilson Juarez, 21, and Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19—are not alleged to have touched the officers but to have engaged in conduct that amounted to aiding and assisting those who did, according to Bragg. For example, Arocha allegedly kicked a police radio, while Juarez allegedly watched from a distance and then gave his jacket to Brito before they fled.
Arocha is charged with two counts of assault in the second degree and obstructing governmental administration, while Juarez is charged with tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
Jhoan Boada, 22, was initially charged but has not been indicted as the investigation continues. He’s alleged to have kicked an officer at least once.
All the men who were charged were eventually released except for Brito, who remains jailed on bail at Rikers.
Police have said as many as 13 men may have been involved in the skirmish, and additional suspects who haven't been charged are still being sought as police work to identify them.
Anyone with information on the case should call 212-335-9040, Bragg said.
Adams and other officials said they wouldn't get into the immigration status of the men. "We're going to pursue anyone who commits a crime--if they're longstanding New Yorkers or if they're new arrivals," the mayor said, emphasizing that most asylum seekers are not involved in crimes.
Chaotic video from 8:30 p.m. that night shows multiple men ganging up on the cops—a lieutenant and an officer—who were trying to disperse the "disorderly group" outside the shelter at 220 West 42nd St., police said.
The officers were pummeled and stomped on in the brawl, video shows, but they were not seriously injured and were treated at the scene.
Four of the men who were charged and released--Gomez-Izquiel, Juarez, Arocha and Reveron--may have left the city, and while federal immigration officials initially believed they had taken them into custody in Arizona earlier this week, the Manhattan D.A.’s Office reaffirmed Thursday that they were not the four charged in the Times Square attack. Their whereabouts are currently unclear.
On Wednesday, the NYPD released new images of two suspects in the case.
The attack has led to a political firestorm as the city and country grapple with how to handle an influx of asylum seekers who've arrived over the past two years, with nearly 175,000 entering New York City during that time.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and NYPD brass have criticized the decision to release some of the men, with the governor saying, “Get them all and send them back.” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said the men “should be sitting at Rikers right now on bail.”
The NYPD commissioner said earlier this week that “a wave of migrant crime has washed over our city,” leading immigrant advocates to accuse officials of playing into “the same old Trumpian fear mongering.”
On Tuesday night, members of the Guardian Angels roughed up a man during a live interview on Fox News and then misidentified him as a “migrant” in a primetime segment meant to highlight disorder and crime caused by the new arrivals in the city.
“In fact, our guys have just taken down one of the migrant guys on the corner of 42nd and 7th where all of this has taken place,” Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa told Sean Hannity during the broadcast. Throwing his hands in the air, he added: “They’ve taken over!”
The man is not a migrant, but a New Yorker from the Bronx, police said Wednesday. The man was issued a disorderly conduct summons because he was acting in a loud and threatening manner on a public sidewalk, according to police.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Sliwa said he had believed the man was a migrant because he was “speaking Spanish” and because other Guardian Angels had encountered him with other Spanish speakers on previous patrols.
“Vigilantism is not the answer,” City Councilmember Erik Bottcher, who represents the area around Times Square, said in response to the incident. “When civilians take justice into their own hands it can escalate conflicts and lead to even more dangerous situations putting everyone at risk.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.