A man with a history of arrests at pro-Palestinian protests was charged Monday with setting fire to 11 New York City police vehicles last month.<\/p>\n
Jakhi McCray, 21, of Brooklyn pleaded not guilty to arson in U.S. District Court.<\/p>\n
A criminal complaint unsealed Monday said McCray was recorded on surveillance video scaling a fence to a private lot for reserve New York Police Department vehicles in Brooklyn\u2019s Bushwick neighborhood shortly before 1 a.m. on June 12. A police officer arrived about a half hour later to find the vehicles on fire and the suspect fleeing through a hole in the fence, it said.<\/p>\n
The complaint said a lighter and a pair of sunglasses containing McCray\u2019s fingerprints were found at the scene, along with fire starters that had been placed under some undamaged vehicles.<\/p>\n
Police estimated the replacement cost of the vehicles at $800,000.<\/p>\n
McCray\u2019s attorney, Ron Kuby, said his client, whom he described as an activist, was ordered released on the arson charge but remained in police custody on a separate misdemeanor count in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
After the vehicles were torched, Mayor Eric Adams suggested the suspect was connected to protests in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere over the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement agenda.<\/p>\n
\u201cSetting police vehicles ablaze is not a form of protest \u2014 it is a federal crime,\u201d Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a news release Monday.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n
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\n New York<\/a>
\n Law Enforcement<\/a>\n <\/p>\n
\n No\n <\/p>\n