Mayor De Blasio Intervenes in Case Of Anti-Semitic Attacker

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York Mayor de Blasio intervened in the prosecution of an accused violent anti-Semitic attacker — leading to her being sent to psychiatric evaluation, because she was generating negative publicity for his administration, according to a report by the New York Post.

Tiffany Harris, 30, was released from custody at a special hearing New Years Eve despite having been repeatedly arrested just days previously for physically assaulting three Orthodox Jewish women as well as shouting offensive epithets at them. Harris’s release was due to City Hall contacting the state Office of Administration to schedule a special hearing, since she was part of a special City Hall program for newly released jail inmates.

A source close to the Post said that “The Mayor’s Office was deeply concerned after learning that she was not in compliance with her supervised release and her erratic behavior was continuing. They reached out to the court, who then calendared it to further investigate.”

The new bail reform law eliminates cash bail for all misdemeanors but requires offenders to be monitored by social workers. Harris skipped her meeting with a social worker and committed her third offence in five days but was still released because her detainment would have embarrassed City Hall at the point when the new law goes into effect.

A transcript of the court hearing shows that Harris’s public defender complained to Judge Michael Yavinsky that news coverage had led the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to contact both her and Brooklyn Justice Initiatives, which was responsible for overseeing Harris.

“The mayor of the executive branch of the government got involved because of a press case,” charged Lisa Schreibersdorf, founder and executive director of Brooklyn Defender Services.

Harris has been admitted for mental-health observation “at the discretion of her doctor”,  a source familiar with her case said.

De Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein responded Sunday, stating that “It is our job to help ensure supervised release works as it should.

“In that vein, we spoke with the Office of Court Administration after Ms. Harris’ assessment was left incomplete to determine next steps and discuss how to handle situations like this in the future.”