A 33-year-old man has been arrested and charged with assault and harassment after anti-LGBTQ protesters entered the New York City apartment building of councilman Erik Bottcher last week.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, the New York Police Department confirmed that officers had arrested and charged David Nieves, of Brooklyn, on Tuesday morning in connection with an assault on Bottcher’s 52-year-old neighbor.
Bottcher welcomed news of the arrest and charges, telling The Daily Beast: “Violence, intimidation and vandalism are never acceptable. A message needs to be sent to hate groups everywhere that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated.”
ADVERTISEMENT
During the episode at Bottcher’s Chelsea building on Dec. 19, two anti-Drag Queen Story Hour protesters were arrested after entering the building and reportedly refusing to leave before eventually doing so. The sidewalk outside was defaced with hateful, homophobic slurs directed against Bottcher, including “OK Groomer,” “Child Predator,” and Erik Boccher (sic) Is a Pedo Child Groomer!”
Bottcher, whose district encompasses Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, and Greenwich Village, posted a video allegedly showing one of his neighbors being physically assaulted by the extremists during the incident. A group of protesters also entered and reportedly vandalized his nearby office building.
Police last week identified the two women arrested at Bottcher’s residence as Erica Sanchez, 44, from the Bronx, and D’Anna Morgan, 27, from Queens. Both were charged with criminal trespass. The New York Post reported that the group that targeted Bottcher’s office was called Guardians of Divinity.
The victim of Nieves’ alleged assault, Bottcher’s neighbor, told The Daily Beast Wednesday: “I’m glad the suspect has been arrested and charged. He and the rest of the group were very threatening that day. I’m still a little shaken by the whole thing.”
The Daily Beast is not naming the alleged victim, who fears the same extremists may target him professionally and personally.
“When I was standing up to them, one of the group said, ‘You don’t want to mess with us.’ After that the man came after me from behind. I was pushed in the street and stopped myself against a car. They were very threatening. I wish the whole thing had never happened. It was shocking.”
The man said he was walking his dog when the incident unfolded. “It was the holidays, I said to them something like, ‘Knock it off, this is ridiculous.’ For some reason this only provoked them. I picked up my dog. One guy started putting his cigarette in my face, and got very close to my dog, who is like my child of course. That set me off. I matched their volume. They seemed very volatile, unhinged, and out of their minds. When I said they shouldn’t be there in our vestibule, one guy came at me from behind. All I thought was, ‘This should not be happening in my neighborhood,’” he laughed. “Then when I got pushed into the car, I got scared.”
The neighbor said he was “trying to move past” what had happened, while other neighbors and friends had praised him for his bravery in standing up to the group. “One straight neighbor who has children said, ‘We came to live here because we want our kids to grow up here. We don’t want groups like that in the neighborhood.’”
Bottcher told The Daily Beast last week that he had so far declined special protection measures, saying that Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD “are offering any and all support and protection that I need. I’ve declined having a car parked out front. But I know that is an option that is open to me if I need it. The mayor told me he and his entire administration are standing with me. The support from people generally has been overwhelming and absolutely heartening. It doesn’t surprise me because New Yorkers are very loving and supportive people, but it’s even more than I would have been expected.”
The incident is the latest in a wave of activity aimed at drag events across the country, enflamed by anti-LGBTQ rhetoric by politicians and right wing media.
Read it at The Daily Beast
