Latest news with #JakhiMcCray
UPI
22-07-2025
- UPI
21-year-old arrested for setting 10 NYPD cars on fire
Federal prosecutors on Monday said 21-year-old Jakhi McCray has been arrested and charged with setting fire to 10 police cars on June 21. Photo courtesy of NYPD News/ X July 22 (UPI) -- A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged with setting 10 New York City police cars on fire last month, federal prosecutors said. Jakhi McCray is accused of setting the cars on fire early on June 12. According to the complaint unsealed Monday, McCray allegedly scaled a fence into a secure private lot for reserve NYPD vehicles for precincts in northern Brooklyn at about 12:52 a.m. EDT that day. Federal prosecutors said he remained in the lot for about 32 minutes, during which he set fire to 10 NYPD vehicles and a trailer. Police officers arrived at the scene at about 1:24 a.m. and noticed a suspect trying to escape by scaling the fence before fleeing through a hole in the barrier. A cigar lighter and a pair of sunglasses were found at the scene, along with 22 fire starters and 10 BBQ Dragon Egg fire starters that had been placed under three undamaged police vehicles, the prosecutors said. Police were able to lift fingerprints from the sunglasses, they added. Federal prosecutors also suggested that the arson was connected to the anti-Trump administration protests, stating the incident occurred "two days before protests were scheduled to be held over the June 14-15 2025 weekend." The Justice Department estimates the cost to replace the damaged vehicles at $800,000. NYPD Commissioner Tisch said the arson attack "was as cowardly as it was criminal." "The defendant in this case may have wanted to send a message -- but all he did was mobilize the full force of the NYPD, the ATF and the FDNY to identify, locate and arrest him," she said in a statement. If convicted, McCray faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years behind bars and a maximum penalty of 20 years. Police had been looking for McCray for weeks. Last month, NYPD published images of McCray online and identified him as the suspect in the case. On Monday, NYC Mayor Eric Adams celebrated McCray's arrest. "We got him," he said on X. "Our arson suspect is now in custody." WANTED FOR ARSON OF NYPD PROPERTY: Jakhi Lodgson-McCray is wanted for setting fire to NYPD vehicles on June 12 in Brooklyn & causing significant damage. There is zero tolerance for anyone who attacks the NYPD. If you have any info, contact @NYPDTips or call 800-577-TIPS NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 18, 2025
22-07-2025
- Politics
Man accused of setting fire to 11 NYPD vehicles is arrested and charged with arson
NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — A man with a history of arrests at pro-Palestinian protests was charged Monday with setting fire to 11 New York City police vehicles last month. Jakhi McCray, 21, of Brooklyn pleaded not guilty to arson in U.S. District Court. A criminal complaint unsealed Monday said McCray was recorded on surveillance video scaling a fence to a private lot for reserve New York Police Department vehicles in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood shortly before 1 a.m. on June 12. A police officer arrived about a half hour later to find the vehicles on fire and the suspect fleeing through a hole in the fence, it said. The complaint said a lighter and a pair of sunglasses containing McCray's fingerprints were found at the scene, along with fire starters that had been placed under some undamaged vehicles. Police estimated the replacement cost of the vehicles at $800,000. McCray's attorney, Ron Kuby, said his client, whom he described as an activist, was ordered released on the arson charge but remained in police custody on a separate misdemeanor count in Manhattan. After the vehicles were torched, Mayor Eric Adams suggested the suspect was connected to protests in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agenda.
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Brooklyn Activist Charged With Arson in Torching of 10 Police Vehicles
A pro-Palestinian activist who has clashed with police officers at demonstrations has been arrested and charged with arson after federal authorities said he sneaked onto a Brooklyn parking lot last month and set fire to 10 police vehicles. The man, Jakhi McCray, 21, was arrested Monday morning and appeared before Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bail worth $300,000. After he was granted bail, Mr. McCray was brought by police officers to Manhattan Criminal Court to be arraigned on state charges related to a protest he had attended, according to Ron Kuby, a lawyer for Mr. McCray. The details of that arrest were unclear to Mr. McCray's lawyers late Monday. Mr. Kuby said he expected his client to spend a night in police custody before returning to his family's home in Maplewood, N.J. 'It sounds like the police are just really angry at him for messing up their cars,' Mr. Kuby said. Mr. McCray, who is also a staunch critic of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, was backed by his mother and more than two dozen supporters in the courtroom, most of whom donned kaffiyehs, a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Several dozen more gathered in an overflow room. In a two-page statement released before his appearance, Mr. McCray railed against 'the brutality of state repression' and the 'kidnapping of migrants.' He claimed that police officers and media outlets had lied about him, and cited other people who had been arrested in connection with their presence at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In a news release, Joseph Nocella Jr., the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said: 'Setting police vehicles ablaze is not a form of protest. It is a federal crime.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Winnipeg Free Press
22-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Man accused of setting fire to 11 NYPD vehicles is arrested and charged with arson
NEW YORK (AP) — A man with a history of arrests at pro-Palestinian protests was charged Monday with setting fire to 11 New York City police vehicles last month. Jakhi McCray, 21, of Brooklyn pleaded not guilty to arson in U.S. District Court. A criminal complaint unsealed Monday said McCray was recorded on surveillance video scaling a fence to a private lot for reserve New York Police Department vehicles in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood shortly before 1 a.m. on June 12. A police officer arrived about a half hour later to find the vehicles on fire and the suspect fleeing through a hole in the fence, it said. The complaint said a lighter and a pair of sunglasses containing McCray's fingerprints were found at the scene, along with fire starters that had been placed under some undamaged vehicles. Police estimated the replacement cost of the vehicles at $800,000. McCray's attorney, Ron Kuby, said his client, whom he described as an activist, was ordered released on the arson charge but remained in police custody on a separate misdemeanor count in Manhattan. After vehicles were torced, Mayor Eric Adams suggested the suspect was connected to protests in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agenda. 'Setting police vehicles ablaze is not a form of protest — it is a federal crime,' Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a news release Monday.
Associated Press
22-07-2025
- Associated Press
Man accused of setting fire to 11 NYPD vehicles is arrested and charged with arson
NEW YORK (AP) — A man with a history of arrests at pro-Palestinian protests was charged Monday with setting fire to 11 New York City police vehicles last month. Jakhi McCray, 21, of Brooklyn pleaded not guilty to arson in U.S. District Court. A criminal complaint unsealed Monday said McCray was recorded on surveillance video scaling a fence to a private lot for reserve New York Police Department vehicles in Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood shortly before 1 a.m. on June 12. A police officer arrived about a half hour later to find the vehicles on fire and the suspect fleeing through a hole in the fence, it said. The complaint said a lighter and a pair of sunglasses containing McCray's fingerprints were found at the scene, along with fire starters that had been placed under some undamaged vehicles. Police estimated the replacement cost of the vehicles at $800,000. McCray's attorney, Ron Kuby, said his client, whom he described as an activist, was ordered released on the arson charge but remained in police custody on a separate misdemeanor count in Manhattan. After vehicles were torced, Mayor Eric Adams suggested the suspect was connected to protests in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement agenda. 'Setting police vehicles ablaze is not a form of protest — it is a federal crime,' Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a news release Monday.
