“This is maddening”: Netizens outraged as ‘sanctuary’ church reportedly spends $15,000 to bail out migrant involved in Time Square NYPD beating

After a Brooklyn church reportedly paid $15,000 in bail, the lone migrant who had been arrested for the gang attack on two NYPD cops in Times Square is now free.

According to the NY Post, Yohenry Brito, 24, who was detained at Rikers Island after he attacked the cops on January 27, left jail on Tuesday, February 13. It happened after Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge reportedly provided the funding. He is scheduled to be charged with assault this week.

The church’s pastor, Rev. Juan Ruiz, spoke to the NY Post about the church and informed the outlet,

“Our church is basically a sanctuary. We assume that people are innocent until they are proven otherwise.”

However, the move garnered a lot of backlash from netizens. They took to the comment section of @CollinRugg’s X post, which included details about Brito's bail, to express their opinion.

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Netizens angry as church reportedly bails out migrant involved in Time Square NYPD attack

Netizens have slammed the church for reportedly bailing out the migrant (Representative Image via Pexels)

As per the New York Post , Brito was charged with two counts of assault after he was allegedly at the center of the altercation with police.

The outlet reported that, as per NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, the confrontation began when an officer and lieutenant asked a group of men to leave a sidewalk in front of a shelter in Manhattan.

However, according to Chief Kenny, there was a fight because police tried to detain Brito after he "became confrontational with them." The police were kicked by group members, according to the incident's footage.

Meanwhile, Ruiz added that "there is a lot more than what is being publicized" about the attack. He also referenced "the politically charged context" surrounding the case against Brito and the other migrants who are accused of banding together with the police, according to the NY Post.

He further said,

“Sanctuary gives you that kind of breathing space.”

Meanwhile, netizens slammed the church for their decision.

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More details about the incident

The body-camera footage of the altercation showed the officers approaching a group of individuals in front of a shelter and giving them orders to leave. However, the men, reportedly the migrants, were reluctant to leave.

One of the men, alleged to be Yohenry Brito, is then seen getting apprehended after being pushed into a doorway by an officer. Following this, a struggle between them and the NYPD cops breaks out. The footage showed a number of onlookers approaching the crowd and kicking the officers in an attempt to dissuade them from taking the man into custody.

Now that he is out of jail, Brito is not staying at the Brooklyn chapel, as reported by the New York Post. Given that the suspect was the one who allegedly started the fight and was already facing misdemeanor charges, the district attorney recommended setting bail at $15,000 cash or $50,000 bond for him.

According to the outlet, he is one of seven immigrants accused of the attack on the police officer and NYPD lieutenant. While Brito was bailed out by the church, five of them—Yorman Reveron, Jhoan Borada, Wilson Juarez, Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, and Kelvin Servita Arocha— were freed without any bail, and Yarwuin Madris was detained this week and charged.

Furthermore, as reported by the New York Post, the Manhattan district attorney's office stated on Wednesday that Juarez and Arocha, two of the attackers, were inside the New York City apartment where Madris was taken into custody. The bureau further stated that the two migrants were allegedly in the custody of federal immigration authorities.