Times Square migrant gang linked to Tren de Aragua attacked NYPD with scooters, basketballs, bottles
A pair of NYPD cops jumped by a group of migrant gang members, including a 12-year-old boy, while trying to thwart a robbery in Times Square were struck with scooters, basketballs, bottles and makeshift weapons in a 'wolfpack'-style ambush, Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday.
Police are still looking for at least six teens behind the Friday night attack at West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue. The teens were members of Diablos de la 42, an offshoot of the notorious Venezuelan Tren de Aragua street gang.
'It's horrific enough to be a victim of a crime,' Adams said at a news conference on the wanted suspects Tuesday. 'When someone openly assaults a police officer you are attacking our symbol of safety. It cannot be tolerated.'
New York City police have released images of three of the suspects still being sought, believed to be between ages 15 and 20. (New York City Police Department/TNS)
The NYPD released images of three of the suspects still being sought, who appear to be between ages 15 and 20. As of Tuesday, five of the 11 attackers were in custody, police sources said. They range in age from 19 to 12.
'This was a planned attack that was carried out with intent,' NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
'This is not a low-level crime. This is organized violence carried out by gang members that we have already taken off the streets for preying on New Yorkers. And now they're back, ambushing cops in Times Square. It's not a fluke. It's a system failure.'
Adams and Tisch credited the NYPD's controversial gang database in helping detectives identify five of the suspects who were arrested within four days.
'You can't fight organized violence with blindfolds on,' Tisch said as she railed against the City Council's attempts to delete the database. 'It defies common sense that our city council is looking to abolish this database.'
Advocates for the database's removal say it is made up almost entirely of Black and Hispanic New Yorkers, with names staying in the database far longer than they should.
Cops called Diablos de la 42 a 'young farm team' of Tren de Aragua, who have weapons, flash gang signs and use emojis provided from the parent crew. The NYPD has identified 37 Diablos de la 42 gang members who are responsible for over 240 arrests, cops said.
The NYPD has done several take-downs of Tren de Aragua and its splinter groups in the last year and taken several guns used by members off the street but they remain 'out there on Friday doing what they did,' Tisch said.
'We still have more work to do,' Tisch said.
Two weeks ago, federal authorities announced more than two dozen New York City Tren de Aragua members, all migrants from Venezuela, had been been arrested on federal murder, racketeering, drug and sex trafficking charges.
On Friday, the two cops were protecting three teens from being robbed by a dozen muggers when the gang members were caught on video pelting the officers with numerous objects about 7:30 p.m., Tisch said.
Neither officer was seriously harmed.
Three of the teen muggers were arrested Saturday. A fourth surrendered to police on Sunday and cops arrested the fifth suspect Tuesday morning.
The oldest suspect is 19-year-old Yeterxon Jose Mijares-Hernandez, a migrant staying at the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown. Cops charged Mijares Hernandez with attempted assault, obstruction of government administration, and riot.
Four out of the six teens still being sought have been identified, cops said. All of them have been repeatedly arrested before, Tisch said.
A 17-year-old suspect was also charged with obstructing governmental administration, rioting and menacing. A 16-year-old boy was additionally charged with attempted assault of a police officer and reckless endangerment.
Charges against the 12-year-old and a 14-year-old boy weren't clear. The 12-year-old boy made headlines last year when he was arrested at age 11 in connection with a string of Central Park cellphone robberies, police sources said.
As cops track down the remaining members, the NYPD is also investigating how a teen gang member was able to smuggle a cellphone into a 'juvenile room' used to hold minor offenders and take selfies of himself and his friends flashing gang signs, Tisch said.
Police said that Tren de Aragua members operate in large groups and surround their victims before mugging them. Many of the suspects are young teens, something advocates tend to zero in on above the rights of the victims, Adams said.
'If you are 15 and decide to stab someone I don't want to hear people tell me it's a young person,' Adams fumed. 'When you're a victim of a crime the last thing you're thinking about is the age of the person.'
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A coalition of lefty groups — including Make the Road New York and the New York Immigration Coalition — pressed top lawmakers in a letter this week to pass the measure with the amendment. 'In this moment, when immigrant and voter rights are under attack across the country, New York has the responsibility to do everything to protect immigrant New Yorkers from being deported by the Trump administration,' the coalition, New Yorkers for Inclusive Democracy, wrote in the letter. 'Passing the Enhanced Automatic Voter Registration bill is a necessary step to ensure that no immigrant New Yorkers are unjustly deported.' — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Top state Democrats are eager to blame Washington Republicans for federal funding problems. (City & State) — Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado's bid to take on Gov. Kathy Hochul could be hobbled by his lack of name recognition. (Spectrum News) — Hochul and fellow Democratic governors will be grilled by Congressional Republicans over their states' immigration policies. (Times Union) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION GOING AFTER 'SANCTUARIES': Rep. Nick Langworthy has introduced congressional Republicans' latest effort to target cities that limit cooperation between federal immigration officers and local law enforcement. On Tuesday, the Buffalo-area Republican unveiled the Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025, legislation that would block federal funding for 'sanctuary' jurisdictions. It's the House companion to a measure previously introduced by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. 'The violence we are seeing happen in LA right now is a cautionary tale for New York, another sanctuary state catering to criminal illegal immigrants and left-wing extremists,' Langworthy said in a statement. The bill's cosponsors include North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik, who's mulling a run for governor. It's being introduced as three Democratic governors, including Hochul, prepare to testify Thursday before the House Oversight Committee on their blue states' policies protecting immigrants. Defenders of 'sanctuary' jurisdictions have noted that federal and New York officers work together on violent crimes or in instances where a warrant is proffered, but that local and state resources are not used for civil infractions, freeing them up to focus on more serious offenses. — Emily Ngo More from Congress: — Thirty-eight House Republicans are warning Senate leaders against using 'budget gimmicks' as they revise President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' (POLITICO) — Rep. Yvette Clarke, the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Trump should be impeached over the deployment of the National Guard in Los Angeles. (POLITICO) — Rep. Ritchie Torres wants federal contractors to reevaluate and potentially revise degree requirements for their job offerings. (NY1) NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — Jack Ciattarelli will get another shot at becoming the next governor of New Jersey. (POLITICO) — Attorney General Letitia James is investigating a police shooting that killed a sword-wielding man. (Times Union) — A former state assemblymember has opened a cannabis dispensary. (Watertown Daily Times) SOCIAL DATA MAKING MOVES: Ryan Birchmeier, former communications director to Eric Adams, has launched Williams Street Strategies, a communications consultancy named for the address of his first job in government at NYCEDC … Nick E. Smith is now president of Polaris New York, a consulting firm focused on fundraising, government relations and communications. He was previously executive director of Communities Resist and was first deputy public advocate under Jumaane Williams … Alex Gleason is returning to the New York City Central Labor Council as policy and campaigns director, after five years at Mercury Public Affairs. MEDIAWATCH: Mark Guiducci is taking over as top editor of Vanity Fair, per NYT's Katie Robertson. The 36-year-old Guiducci 'takes over a job that is very different from the one held by previous editors of Vanity Fair. He will be the first 'global editorial director' at Vanity Fair — gone is the editor-in-chief title — and will oversee Vanity Fair in the United States as well as editions across the world.' HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson … former NYC Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum … Deandra Khan of 32BJ SEIU … Jonathan Yedin … Lucas Acosta … Reid Pillifant … Greta Van Susteren … Mehmet Oz … Will Rahn … Wendy Teramoto … CNN's Morgan Rimmer … Juliette Medina … Bob Brockmann … (WAS TUESDAY): Dovid Efune Missed Tuesday's New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.
