New York City police officers used a stun gun on a Venezuelan migrant who was holding a small child in a city-operated shelter on Friday night, according to video footage taken of the altercation.
The video, released by the New York Times, shows police officers trying to arrest Yanny Cordero, 47, as he holds his son. At some point during the video, which the Times says is two and a half minutes long, police appear to pull out a yellow stun gun and use it on the man as he holds his one-year-old son.
After police separate Cordero from his son, an officer holds him down as another punches him in the head. Another person, who appears to be a security guard, tries to calm down the officers who are restraining Cordero on the floor.
“Hey, they’re hitting him!” the person taking the video can be heard shouting. “Don’t hit him, brother! That’s abuse! Where are the human rights?”
At some point, the camera turns to police pushing away a woman, Andrea Parra, 23, Cordero’s wife who is seen trying to break up the altercation.
Cordero was ultimately charged with multiple offences, including resisting arrest and disorderly conduct and violent behavior. Parra was also arrested and charged.
“We are aware of an incident involving a family in our care at an emergency shelter in Jamaica, Queens, Friday night,” a spokesperson for city hall told the Times. “The health and safety of all migrants and longtime New Yorkers in our care – especially young children – is always a top priority, and this matter is currently under investigation.”
Police told the Times that officers were responding to a call over a dispute with an intoxicated man who was threatening staff members. But Cordero said the altercation was started by a shelter employee who struck him in the face as he tried to communicate with him in English.
Cordero said that he left the shelter to buy dinner for his family, who did not like the food they were serving. When Cordero returned with the food, a shelter employer told him he could not bring it with him upstairs. Cordero tried to communicate with the employee through a phone translation app.
The employee called over another employee, who grew frustrated with Cordero as he tried to communicate and suddenly struck him in the face. Cordero said he did not strike back but challenged the employee, in Spanish, to a fight outside.
Andry Barreto, who recorded the video and is also a Venezuelan migrant, confirmed that he saw the employee strike Cordero and started when the altercation escalated. At some point by the time police arrived, Parra showed up with their three children.
“I never lifted my hand,” Cordero, who was released from custody with Parra, told the Times. “I never told the police anything except not to touch my child.”
On Tuesday, New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, a former police officer, said during a news briefing that he discussed the case with the police commissioner, who said that Cordero was being “violent” and “volatile”.
“This person was under the influence of alcohol, holding a child,” Adams said. “Those officers had to get that child from him so that child was not going to be in danger.”
Adams’ administration has for months come under criticism for its handling of the migrants who have come into the city. In the fall, nearly 70,000 people were in emergency shelters across the city.
