{"id":150407,"date":"2026-03-03T01:16:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T01:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/150407\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T01:16:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T01:16:41","slug":"maga-troll-doesnt-remember-sidekick-setting-black-womans-boot-on-fire-in-nyc-clash-the-morning-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/150407\/","title":{"rendered":"MAGA troll \u2018doesn\u2019t remember\u2019 sidekick setting Black woman\u2019s boot on fire in NYC clash \u2013 The Morning Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the two social media trolls accused of trying to set a Black woman\u2019s boot on fire during a clash on a Manhattan street filled with racist insults<\/a> claimed Friday he had no memory of the crime \u2014 even though he recorded the entire thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t remember the incident,\u201d Michael Santiago, 31, told the Daily News in Manhattan Criminal Court after he was arraigned on a slew of hate crime charges<\/a>, including attempted assault, criminal mischief and menacing. \u201cI\u2019m not denying I was there, but I don\u2019t remember the incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santiago is accused of filming his friend Michael James torch a 54-year-old woman\u2019s furry boot during a hate-fueled tirade on W. 26th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea on Feb. 19, then posting the video online.<\/p>\n

Santiago and James \u2014 the latter who walks around the city proudly sporting a red \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hat \u2014 are known online as \u201cScrubsNYC.\u201d<\/a> The pair of social media provocateurs post their bizarre arguments and interactions with everyday New Yorkers, which usually end with them being chased down the street and out of bodegas and residential buildings.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said that Santiago recorded James, 33, approaching and trying to kiss the victim. When she rebuffed him, he launched into a racist rant, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Santiago is walked in handcuffs from the Midtown South Precinct Thursday in Manhattan. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

\u201c(James) was streaming his actions on live video on the Internet while (he) stated to the complainant, a Black woman, \u2018If you were a slave, you would kiss me. If you were a slave, you would suck my d\u2014,\u2019\u201d Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Bixler said during Friday\u2019s arraignment.<\/p>\n

In the video posted online <\/a>their victim pulls out her own phone in the middle of James\u2019 tirade and begins recording the creeps. Then she throws insults right back at them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a slave \u2014 you\u2019re a slave to my Blackness,\u201d she tells James defiantly.<\/p>\n

When James tells the woman, \u201cKiss me,\u201d she replies saying she \u201cwould never,\u201d the video shows.<\/p>\n

At one point, James asks to kiss the victim\u2019s boots. She agrees, but when he kneels down, he sets one of her boots on fire with a handheld blowtorch.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael James leaves Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. (New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The hair on the toe of the woman\u2019s boot was singed but the flames quickly petered out, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile, (Santiago) records everything, and the incident is livestreamed, with users having the ability to comment live about the incident,\u201d Bixler said.<\/p>\n

Cops say the $89 pair of boots were ruined.<\/p>\n

James and Santiago were arrested late Wednesday, a few hours after cops released images of the two men, asking the public\u2019s help for information about the duo.<\/p>\n

The two suspects live in the same apartment building on the Upper East Side, according to cops.<\/p>\n

\"CopsThe pair, known online as “ScrubsNYC,” were arrested late Wednesday, just a few hours after cops released their images in connection with a reported hate crime on W. 26th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea on Feb. 19. (NYPD)<\/p>\n

Photos of the suspects were supplied by their victim, who is still \u201creceiving messages on social media\u201d over the suspects\u2019 video and \u201cis in fear of her safety,\u201d prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

When cops arrested the pair, James identified himself as the man who set the woman\u2019s boot on fire, according to court papers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is me on the video. I do see myself burning the boot,\u201d James told police, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Cops also recovered an electric stun gun from Santiago\u2019s backpack.<\/p>\n

James was additionally arraigned on harassment and menacing charges for allegedly threatening an ex-girlfriend with a knife in a separate incident, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

\"CopsThe pair, known online as “ScrubsNYC,” were arrested late Wednesday, just a few hours after cops released their images in connection with a reported hate crime on W. 26th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea on Feb. 19. (NYPD)<\/p>\n

The judge signed off on an order of protection preventing Santiago and James from going anywhere near both victims as these cases continue to wend their way through the courts.<\/p>\n

Both men were set loose without bail and were enrolled in a supervised release program<\/a> that would ensure their return to court on April 21.<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s arrests were the suspects\u2019 first run-ins with the law, cops said.<\/p>\n

In one of their online videos, Santiago boasts that James is the \u201cbiggest streamer in New York right now.\u201d But the duo has only about 1,670 subscribers on YouTube<\/a>, 1,400 followers on\u00a0Kick<\/a>\u00a0and just 295 followers on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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