What you should know
- Seven people have been charged with felonies and other charges in connection with last month’s assault on police officers in Times Square, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Thursday.
- His office presented the case to a grand jury this week amid growing pressure over his decision not to seek bail for five of the six detained suspects.
- Top police and union officials, as well as the governor’s office, argued that people who attack NYPD officers should face harsher immediate consequences than a later court date.
NEW YORK — Seven people have been charged with felonies and other charges in connection with last month’s assault on police officers in Times Square, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Thursday.
His office presented the case to a grand jury this week amid growing pressure over his decision not to seek bail for five of the six detained suspects. Top police and union officials, as well as the governor’s office, argued that people who attack NYPD officers should face harsher immediate consequences than a later court date.
For his part, Bragg said there was widespread confusion over the identity of the men, a group of whom are seen in blurry surveillance footage descending on the two officers outside a 42nd Street shelter. It doesn’t help: The Federal and local authorities have communication problems.
Bragg, whose office was expected to present the case to a grand jury this week, was criticized for choosing not to seek bail for five of the six suspects in custody. Top police and union officials, as well as the governor’s office, argued that people who attack NYPD officers should face no harsher immediate consequences than a follow-up court date.
For his part, Bragg said there was widespread confusion surrounding the identity of the men, a group of whom are seen in blurry surveillance footage descending on the two officers outside a 42nd Street shelter.
On the other hand, federal and local authorities have communication problems. Earlier this week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials issued a statement saying they detained four men in Arizona in connection with the Times Square case. Law enforcement officials in New York insisted that the detained men had no connection to their case. The men had no ties to Times Square, Bragg said in a statement, a point he again emphasized at Thursday’s press conference.
What is known
Police believe up to 13 people may have been involved in the January attack. Details about the indictment were not immediately clear Thursday, as to the seven people charged. But Bragg said he was confident his office had identified all the roles of the people who broke the law and participated in the attack.
“This assault outraged me,” Bragg said Thursday. “We all depend on NYPD members every day to remain the safest big city in America.”
Some critics even went so far as to call on Governor Kathy Hochul to remove Bragg from office for the release of the other five.
Bragg tried to dodge reporters’ questions about bail last week at an unrelated briefing, then held a news conference in which he said he didn’t want to keep people in jail until he knew their alleged level of involvement. .
A day ago, the NYPD released images of two more men they say they are looking for in the case.
The men, who are not yet identified, are visible on video attacking officers, authorities said. One man is seen kicking an officer several times, while the other is seen kicking an officer and then falling, according to officials.
After 10 days of analyzing the videos made public after the attack, a police source with knowledge of the investigation said that in the case of two of those accused and released, the video does not show them making any contact with the agents.
According to the police source, one of the accused, Kelvin Arocha, who wears camouflage in the video, is only seen kicking a police radio, but not a police station. Another defendant, Wilson Juarez, was charged with assault, but a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said Juarez is not even visible in the videos.
“They wanted to make sure they had the right person, but you can keep these people while you’re still investigating,” Hochul said. “You don’t let them out.”
Alfredo Acosta updates us from Times Square.
2024-02-08 19:38:48
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