Democrat NYC Councilman Says Illegal Immigrant Suspects Should Be Deported If Found Guilty in NYPD Assault

Four suspects who allegedly assaulted two police officers in New York on Jan. 27, 2024. NYPD

New York City Councilman Robert Holden is joining calls for a group of illegal immigrant suspects charged with assaulting a pair of NYPD officers to be deported if they are criminally convicted.

The pair of NYPD officers had been attempting to break up a disorderly crowd near Times Square on Jan. 27. The situation devolved into a brawl as the officers attempted to make an arrest and wrestle an individual to the crowd, several other members of the crowd were seen on camera standing over the officers to shove, kick, and stomp them.

Reports have indicated several of the suspects may have entered the country illegally and had been in New York City awaiting decisions on asylum claims or pending deportation proceedings.

New York City is a so-called sanctuary city, meaning local authorities will not commit to assisting federal immigration authorities attempting to detain and deport people in the country illegally. Mr. Holden, a Democrat on the city council, disagrees with the city’s sanctuary status protecting illegal immigrants from deportation, but also said illegal immigrants found to have committed violent crimes should also be deported in general.

“You kick an officer in the face several times and punch an officer who’s doing their job,” he told NTD’s Arian Pasdar on Feb. 1. “You should not have the right to walk the streets of New York City or America, for that matter, at all. You should be thrown in jail if you do that. And then once you do your time, you should be deported immediately. Turned over to ICE.”

Authorities arrested four individuals on the scene on Jan. 27. The suspects were identified as Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19; Kelvin Servita Arocha, 19; Wilson Juarez, 21; and Yorman Reveron, 24. The four were charged with second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer and obstruction of governmental administration.

Authorities arrested and charged another suspect identified as Jhoan Boada, 22, two days later on Jan. 29, and charged him with second-degree assault and second-degree obstructing governmental administration.

Authorities arrested and charged another suspected identified as Yohenry Brito, 24, on Jan. 31, with two counts of second-degree assault and one count of second-degree obstructing governmental administration.

The immigration status of these suspects is not immediately clear.

Hochul Open to Deportation Option

Mr. Holden is among a growing number of New Yorkers open to seeing the individuals who assaulted the NYPD officers on Jan. 27 removed from the United States.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said on Wednesday that deporting the suspects in the Jan. 27 assault is an option “that should be looked at.”

Mr. Holden welcomed those comments from Ms. Hochul.

“I don’t normally agree with the governor on a lot of issues. Certainly public safety, I think she’s been lacking. But this time I agree with her,” he told NTD News. “I think if they’re found guilty, and again, if the evidence is clear, that they should be, they should go to jail.”

Though he is a registered Democrat, Mr. Holden has positioned himself as a moderate and broken ranks with his party in the past. He received the support of Republicans and conservatives in his 2017 run to oust then-incumbent Democratic Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley. He also endorsed Republican candidate Lee Zeldin in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election, preferring him over Ms. Hochul, the incumbent.

Ms. Hochul again signaled support for deportations during a Thursday press event for the New York City subway. When asked about the suspects in the attack, Ms. Hochul said, “Get them all and send them back.”

‘Huge Mistake’ For Assault Suspects to be Let Loose: Holden

Mr. Holden said it may be difficult to criminally convict any of the individuals charged in the Jan. 27 assault, let alone deport them.

Several of the identified assault suspects were released without bail following their arrests and arraignments.

“They should go to jail, by the way. To have them out with no bail or just let loose, I think, is a huge mistake,” Mr. Holden told NTD News.

The Democrat New York City councilman also questioned the reliability of the information authorities had collected about the suspects, including whether the suspects had given fake names.

Earlier this week, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said the suspects in the Jan. 27 assault “should be sitting in Rikers,” referring to Rikers Island, which houses New York City’s detention and correctional facilities and is isolated on the East River.

Mr. Holden said he agreed with the NYPD official.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has acknowledged that it did not request bail for the suspects, saying prosecutors are in the process of gathering additional video evidence of the attack.