Migrants Suspected of Assaulting NYPD Officer Arrested in Arizona

(USNewsMag.com) – Multiple illegal immigrants suspected of taking part in a recent assault on police officers in New York City were caught in Phoenix, Arizona, and arrested.

Sources from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed on Monday, February 5th, several illegal immigrants were apprehended in Arizona who were allegedly involved in the recent mob assault on New York Police Department (NYPD) officers that went viral online after a bystander caught the incident on camera. The suspects, whose identities haven’t been released yet, were arrested in Phoenix at a Greyhound bus station by Homeland Security Investigations and ICE agents.

After the story broke, an image of three immigrants in handcuffs sitting in the dirt quickly went viral online. Law enforcement sources told the New York Post that this image was not of the suspects who were part of the mob that assaulted the two officers in New York.

Four of the young men involved in the New York assault were believed by law enforcement to be on their way to California following the incident. The four men, ages 19 to 24, were arrested after the assault and then released on bail, after which they may have fled for California with the help of a church-affiliated non-profit. Three more suspects were later arrested.

On Friday, February 2nd, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul commented on the incident during a news conference, saying she wished to have a conversation with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg regarding his decision to release most of the suspects without bail. Hochul said state prosecutors should’ve kept the suspects locked up and told reporters that “an assault on police officers” was “certainly” bail eligible. She said she also wanted to discuss the types of crimes that “can lead to deportation.

A few days later, on Tuesday, February 6th, New York Republican lawmakers called on Hochul to remove Bragg from his position.

Since Spring 2022, over 150,000 immigrants have come to New York City, creating a situation that Mayor Eric Adams said last September could “destroy” the city.