Rows among New York leaders continue over the city's migrant population, with Mayor Eric Adams openly criticizing President Joe Biden's handling of crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Tensions have been fraught in the city after footage released this month showed a group of migrants brawling with police in Times Square. The footage showed several men kicking officers on a sidewalk, the Associated Press reported, leading to several arrests.
During a Fox News interview this week with Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels "community safety" group, another brawl was captured on-air, this time between the Angels and a man that Sliwa labeled a "migrant."
The Claim
During an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, Curtis Sliwa, founder of self-described safety patrol group the Guardian Angels, claimed that his group, who were standing behind the Fox News camera, had apprehended a "migrant" while on-air.
Sliwa pointed to the other side of the camera and said: "In fact our guys have just taken down one of the migrant guys right here on the corner (of) 42nd and 7th... they've taken over."
The camera turned to show the group tackling someone to the floor.
The Facts
According to a statement from the NYPD to the Associated Press (AP), the person in the video was from the Bronx, New York, not a migrant.
Elsewhere Sliwa told NBC News that the man was a shoplifter—AP said the police provided no evidence to support that allegation.
The NYPD told Newsweek it stood by the accuracy of its statement to AP and that the matter was still under investigation. Newsweek has asked the NYPD whether any of the Guardian Angels are being investigated or have been arrested, and for further information about the person who was tackled in the video.
According to the NYPD's statement to AP, the person in the video was "detained by bystanders" after allegedly trying to disrupt the interview, and was issued a disorderly conduct summons for acting in a loud and threatening manner on a public sidewalk.
Newsweek has contacted the Guardian Angels via a contact form for comment.
The incident took place following a widely reported brawl in Times Square between police and a group of migrants which has led to backlash about the city's asylum seeker population.
Adams, who easily beat Republican candidate Sliwa in the 2021 mayoral election, is among the more outspoken Democrats regarding the crossings of migrants at the southern border, many of whom seek and find refuge within New York City. Adams has been critical of the Biden administration's handling of the matter, labeling it "one of the largest humanitarian crises this city has ever experienced."
Others in New York have been less critical. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, also a Democrat, has urged authorities to embrace immigration, highlighting benefits that include a boost to the economy.
The Ruling
False.
The man tackled in the Fox News interview is not a migrant as Guardian Angels' founder Curtis Sliwa claimed. NYPD confirmed the person tackled by Sliwa's "community safety" group was a New Yorker from the Bronx. The individual was issued a disorderly conduct summons for acting in a loud and threatening manner on a public sidewalk, the NYPD said.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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