One of five homeless men who attacked an NYPD officer on a subway platform is reportedly an illegal immigrant who had multiple detainer requests from ICE ignored by city officials.
Officer Syed Ali, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, was recorded in a viral video that showed him trying to fend off multiple attackers without ever pulling his gun.
He was helping a woman who was being harassed at the subway station. The men didn’t appreciate law enforcement stepping in and repeatedly approached him in a menacing fashion.
“I’m trying to survive,” Ali told ABC News. “That’s the No. 1 thing.”
He fought off the attackers one by one using his baton and his feet as weapons. As a result, nobody was seriously hurt, though the officer would certainly have been justified in using further force had he feared his life was in danger.
The NYPD officer seen in viral footage fighting off a group of men on a subway platform says he was “just trying to survive.”
Officer Syed Ali was honored Thursday by city officials for his ‘quick action.’ “It was a perfect outcome. Nobody got hurt.” https://t.co/KNaPgJBfsd pic.twitter.com/TVzDPmnD9T
— ABC News (@ABC) December 28, 2018
Attacker was protected by city officials
One of the five attackers sought – and found – sanctuary in New York City.
According to SiriusXM radio host David Webb, officials ignored multiple ICE detainer requests for the man who would later attempt to assault a police officer.
“One of the suspects is Eliseo Alvarez Santos, one of the homeless men,” reported Webb. “And just to give you a bit of his record, on Dec. 1, 2017, he was brought into Manhattan lock up … and Eliseo is illegal, and an ICE detainer was issued on Dec. 25, 2017 — issued, but not honored. Again on Dec. 26, 2017 — again, not honored.”
Detainers are issued for a reason
Former acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Thomas Homan, announced in June of 2017 that the Trump administration would be taking a new approach to enforcing immigration laws.
“We’ll issue detainers to anybody in the country illegally,” he explained during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing, adding that ICE would also “put detainers on people that have not been convicted of a crime.”
“If you are in this country illegally, and you committed a crime by entering this country, you should be uncomfortable, you should look over your shoulder, and you need to be worried,” Homan said.
Why are detainers for illegals regardless of their criminal history so important to honor? Because if you wait until they commit another crime, as in the case of this attack on a police officer, it’s too late.
“If we wait for them to violate yet another law against the citizens of this country, it’s late,” Homan explained. “We shouldn’t wait.”
De Blasio to blame
Webb reports that the decision to ignore the ICE detainers comes from the mayor’s office.
“The following policies are dictated by the mayor’s office — Bill de Blasio, his office,” he stated. “In April of 2018, a bench warrant was issued but the warrant did not show up until his arrest on Sunday of this year.”
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neil said he would have to look into why the detainers, especially with a bench warrant out for Santos’ arrest, were ignored.
“They definitely should have been kept in custody if they had a warrant on them,” he told the Daily Caller.
Santos, along with two other men involved in the incident, was charged with obstructing governmental administration and riot. Santos had attempted assault, attempted criminal possession of a weapon and menacing added to his list of charges.
