Former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa has slammed current New York City Mayor Eric Adams, saying his handling of the illegal migrant crisis and his approach to policing led to two officers being attacked in Times Square over the weekend.
Sliwa blasted the mayor on Hannity Thursday and labeled the mob of migrants who had launched a vicious attack on two NYPD officers as "untouchables," since a number of them were arrested and let loose.
The caught-on-camera attack, in which migrants can be seen kicking officers in the head and back, has sparked widespread condemnation. It took place just steps from the New Amsterdam theater — a popular destination among tourists.
NYPD CHIEF BLASTS MIGRANTS' ATTACK ON OFFICERS AS MUGSHOTS OF SUSPECTS RELEASED
"This all started when our mayor, Eric Adams, swagger man with no plan, invited the illegal aliens in, then put them up in all the hotels in Times Square, where they remain at $400 a night, and now they form gangs," Sliwa said while flanked by members of his Guardian Angels, an unarmed crime-prevention group he established in 1979.
"And so when the police try to move them on from basically jostling and hassling and pick-pocketing people and going into stores and shoplifting, they now resist, they form gangs. You saw the video evidence. They gave a horrific beatdown to two police officers, who didn't have nightsticks, because the mayor took the nightsticks away from the police a long time ago. They were defenseless."
Seven migrants have already been arrested and charged in connection with the attack. Five were released yesterday without bail, and one migrant was caught flipping the middle finger at reporters. The two other migrants are set to appear in court later today.
Sliwa was incensed that several of the migrants had been let back out on the streets.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office deferred questions over the suspects' deportation statuses to ICE, which did not immediately respond. New York is a sanctuary state, meaning it does not cooperate with ICE.
"Instead of being remanded to jail with no bail and turned over to ICE to be deported, because remember, Joe Biden and Mayorkas paroled them into America, they were cut loose," Sliwa said.
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"They're back in the streets to do it again and again. I'm here with the Guardian Angels, and we’re saying ‘Enough of this.’ If the government isn't going to do it in Washington, and the mayor in New York City is not going to deal with these illegal aliens who form gangs, then we, the Guardian Angels, will deal with them. Americans must stand up to this madness."
Jhoan Boada, 22, Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, Kelvin Servat Arocha, 19, Juarez Wilson, 21 and Yorman Reveron, 24, were arrested earlier this week on a variety of charges, including assault on a police officer, gang assault, obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct.
The NYPD told Fox News Digital on Thursday that two more migrants, Yohenry Brito, 24, and Jandry Barros, 21, had been arrested and charged with felony assault and robbery after one of the officers' phones was stolen, and it has yet to be recovered.
"The illegal aliens who did it are untouchables, Sean, they're untouchables, they won't be arrested. They won't be turned over to ICE, because this is a sanctuary city, and most importantly, they won't be deported," Sliwa said.
"So, if the government is not going to deal with them, then the Guardian Angels are going to deal with them."
Sliwa said tourists are also in danger of being attacked, as well as police, before he went on to rip Mayor Adams for not equipping police with the right defensive gear to fend off Saturday’s attack.
"The cops should have had their nightsticks. They could have given them a wooden shampoo, hit them in the shins, hit them in their kneecaps. They wouldn't have been able to run anywhere," Sliwa said.
"But because you won't let the cops do their job . . . watch, we'll turn ourselves loose on these illegal gang members and protect the tourists. And imagine we're going to have to protect the cops, too. How ridiculous is that, too?"
"That is just a form of madness and insanity," Hannity said in response.
Sliwa said that the Guardian Angels have been well received by NYPD rank and file in their efforts to support them.
"Oh, they're high-fiving us. They appreciate the tactical air support, because they've been left alone to their own means without an ability to arrest, without an ability to defend themselves with a nightstick, without an ability to be a police officer," Sliwa said.
"They are brave men and women. We will not forsake them. The mayor has, the governor has and especially Joe Biden, who keeps the border open."
"And now all the gangbangers know you can come into America, you can beat up a cop, and they won't even keep you in jail. And they won't let ICE, the brave men and women who every day risked their lives to protect us ever since the attack on 9/11, we won't let them do the job."
"The politicians are responsible for this. Eric Adams and, naturally, his mentor, Joe Biden in Washington, D.C."
"Seal the border, and keep these gangbangers out."
