NEW YORK (AP) — A Venezuelan who became the subject of national attention in the United States for allegedly kicking a police officer in Times Square, then giving the finger to the press cameras as he left court, has been acquitted Friday after prosecutors concluded he played no role in the attack.
The surprising exoneration by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg came weeks after Jhoan Boada, 22, was widely vilified as the “uppity” face of a Jan. 27 brawl between migrants and police officers. of New York, which unleashed widespread political outrage.
He was prominently featured in a political ad for former President Donald Trump titled “(President) Joe Biden’s Middle Finger,” which ended with a freeze frame of Boada making the gesture as he left his initial appearance.
In a Manhattan courtroom on Friday, prosecutors told a judge that further investigation showed that Boada did not participate in the attack. The man seen in the video kicking an officer in pink shoes — who police initially identified as Boada — is now believed to be someone else. That man has been charged and is waiting to be charged before a judge.
Boada’s lawyer, Javier Damián, said his client was the victim of a “hasty judgment” by the media, police and elected officials.
“It was a political football, and people were attacked in a general way,” he said. “It is very sad”.
Boada, who lives in the city’s homeless shelter, had maintained his innocence from the beginning. During his Jan. 31 arraignment, his attorney told the judge that Boada had asked that surveillance footage of the incident be widely disseminated because “anyone who sees the videotape won’t see him.” there.”
Prosecutors agreed to release him without bail, noting that he had no criminal record and that they were continuing to work “to conduct a thorough analysis of the incident and the defendant’s role in it,” according to a transcript of the proceedings.
The news of Boada’s release sparked angry responses from conservative media outlets and the city’s police officials. In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell suggested that Boada and others had fled the city on a bus, an allegation that was later denied by police. authorities.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
2024-03-02 05:30:19
#Prosecutor #Man #accused #attacking #police #Times #Square #wrongly #identified
