Council Speaker Adams criticizes political “fear-mongering” in the Times Square brawl between migrants and NYPD

An altercation between police officers and civilians that took place on January 27th was top of the agenda for Council Speaker Adrienne Adams on Thursday.

Five of the suspects in the alleged assault have been identified as undocumented migrants, prompting Adams to address “fear-mongering” on the part of some city officials.

“The rush to broadly demonize asylum seekers and immigrants is dangerous,” she said.

This past week, Mayor Eric Adams spotlighted crimes committed by migrants and continued his campaign against the “right-to-shelter” laws.

Adrienne Adams said that those laws do not interfere in the criminal legal process and would not shield people from being prosecuted, regardless of immigration status. She denounced the idea of a crime wave of migrants being promoted by the mayor and other parties, stating that counties with the shelter policies are safer and have less crime than those without.

“This is a critical election year for Democrats,” she said. “Lots of politicization of this assault serve to damage and muddy the waters around the perception of migrants in New York City.”

The NYPD rarely releases video footage from their body-worn cameras, but in the case of the “Times Square Assault”, they did.

The footage contradicted initial accounts put forth by authorities, who originally claimed the men were “obstructing the sidewalk” and “forcing pedestrians to pass around them”. The video showed that there was a wide berth of space on the sidewalk as people walked by.

Two officers are seen approaching the men, instructing them to go to West 41st street instead. As they are walking away, an officer grabs 24-year-old Yohenry Brito and pins him against a wall. Brito asks the officer, “Why are you stopping me?” The two then tumble to the floor and the other officer joins the scuffle. Law enforcement says that’s when a “brutal assault” against the NYPD begins, as several others begin kicking and punching the officers while they wrestle with Brito on the ground.

Brito is the only one of those arrested who is currently being held on Rikers’ Island, with an upcoming arraignment scheduled for February 16th.

His lawyer Mark Jankowitz could not be reached for comment.