Police officers who were trying to make an arrest Thursday were surrounded by a mob of aggressive immigrants on Randall’s Island, which has been home to thousands of foreign nationals for more than a year, the New York Post reported.
Located just across the Harlem River east of Manhattan, the island’s soccer fields are now the home to temporary buildings lined with cots.
On Thursday, one of those structures was the site of an attack on officers with the New York City Police Department.
Videos posted to social media by LLN NYC showed officers attempting to arrest an uncooperative man.
The police were surrounded by a large group of screaming people as the subject they were attempting to place in custody resisted arrest.
WARNING: The following videos contain violence and language that some viewers may find offensive.
https://twitter.com/loudlabsnyc/status/1759869261718110249
Not long into the clip, a female NYPD officer was struck by a bag that someone had thrown at her, nearly knocking her off balance.
Other immigrants threw trash at the officers, who appeared to understand they were surrounded.
A lengthier video of the potentially dangerous situation was posted on LLN NYC’s YouTube Page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sg-X1S5C4Xc
According to the Post, only one arrest was made after the melee.
The person placed in custody — whose name was not given — was not supposed to be in the structure, according to the report. He was removed.
The Randall’s Island immigrant shelter has peeved locals and become a hotbed for criminal activity throughout the past year.
Three men were charged in the stabbing death of another man on the island in January, WNBC-TV reported.
In a profile on the shelter last year, WABC-TV called the Randall’s Island migrant facility the largest of its kind in the city.
The shelter is paid for by New York taxpayers and offers illegal immigrants free food, health care, showers and other services.
