Rowdy migrants scuffle with police at New York hotel shelter after employee calls 911 on ‘very violent’ asylum-seeker
A group of rowdy migrants got into a tussle with law enforcement officers on Tuesday at a New York hotel that is being used as a shelter for the influx of asylum-seekers, the New York Post reported.
Around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, a Ramada Inn employee phoned 911 after one of the migrants residing at the hotel became “very violent.”
“The guy is over here unruly,” the employee told dispatchers. “He’s being very violent with everybody. He’s throwing stuff at everybody. We need somebody here right away.”
According to police, over 130 calls have been made to the hotel in the last year, WNYW reported.
A video captured of the altercation showed Yonkers police detaining two migrants at a Ramada Inn that is housing 250 asylum-seekers. Other individuals residing at the shelter surrounded officers and blocked doors in an apparent attempt to stop the arrests, the video showed.
When police arrived at the location, they handcuffed Arnal Kent, 35. Body-camera footage captured several police officers struggling to remove Kent from the property. A woman, identified as Yainilet Hernandez, 24, was shown on video trying to stop officers from placing Kent in the back of a patrol vehicle.
As he was being arrested, Kent yelled in Spanish, “Why does he have to hit me? They’re not taking me. They’re not taking me. I’m not doing anything.”
Law enforcement officials stated that Hernandez attempted to strike several officers during the scuffle. One officer reportedly injured his knee and had to be taken off duty, according to WNYW.
Kent was charged with menacing, disorderly conduct, and obstructing governmental administration, the Post reported. He was released without bail.
Hernandez was charged with second-degree assault, obstruction of governmental administration, and resisting arrest. She was held on $500 bail.
Yonkers police spokesman Detective Sgt. Frank DiDomizio said Thursday that the officers “responded to a call for service and reacted appropriately.”
Migrants residing at the hotel claim that staff have been mistreating them.
“They abuse us. They invade our privacy and they take our money, our belongings away without our permission,” Kent told WNYW.
He claimed employees were violating his rights as well as the rights of other migrants residing at the hotel.
One Venezuelan migrant at the shelter told WABC-TV, “We escaped our countries because we weren’t safe; now we’re not safe here.”
Migrants say they have been told by hotel staff that they are entering their rooms without permission to remove unsafe appliances, such as hot pots.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano (D) said, “I’m mad at those who brought migrants to our community, but certainly we would never treat the migrants with any less dignity than they deserve.”
The shelter program at the Ramada Inn is run by the New York City Department of Homeless Services and Westhab.
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