Queens prosecutors brought charges Friday against a man who\u2019d been shot by police last month \u2014 over the objections of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and of family members who said the man needed an ambulance, not a confrontation with cops.<\/p>\n
Jabez Chakraborty, 22, pleaded not guilty to attempted assault and criminal weapons possession and was held on bail over his lawyer\u2019s objections. Chakraborty\u2019s lawyer said he is still bed-bound at Jamaica Hospital.<\/p>\n
The charges come after police body-camera footage<\/a> released by the city shows Chakraborty came at officers with a kitchen knife, despite his family\u2019s pleas for him to stop and the officers\u2019 commands for him to drop it before one of them shot him. The case has drawn attention<\/a> in part because the family has criticized how city workers handled their call for help when Chakraborty was acting erratically, and Mamdani has said Chakraborty needs mental health care, not prosecution.<\/p>\n Chakraborty appeared before Judge Jessica Earle-Gargan remotely from his hospital bed, where he is still recovering.<\/p>\n He appeared on camera unshaven and beneath a hospital blanket. At several points he appeared to wipe away tears and spoke with a small voice when asked by Earle-Gargan if he understood the charges.<\/p>\n In a tense proceeding in Chakraborty\u2019s mother\u2019s presence, advocates and police union officials, prosecutors and defense attorneys set out dueling narratives about what happened the morning of the shooting. Prosecutors described how Chakraborty\u2019s sister was recorded by body camera saying she was afraid her brother would \u201cmurder\u201d her. Defense lawyers said the family was following Chakraborty\u2019s psychiatrist\u2019s orders and calling 911 to ask for involuntary transport.<\/p>\n But, Earle-Gargan said, \u201cthe mental system has failed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an extremely difficult case because both sides are correct,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is a tragedy to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n She ordered Chakraborty held on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 insurance bond.<\/p>\n Each side’s legal teams revealed a number of new details about the incident.<\/p>\n Prosecutors said that Chakraborty\u2019s sister said she thought her brother was attacking her. They said that on Dec. 7, he\u2019d also attacked his mother and father, breaking down a door to get them, and said he\u2019d attempted to attack a neighbor with a hammer. The previous incidents prompted District Attorney Melinda Katz to seek orders of protection which the judge did not grant because the family did not want them.<\/p>\n Chakraborty\u2019s legal team said that he was in treatment that needed adjustment, and that he had a childlike demeanor. They said that despite his sister\u2019s fearful statements given to police right after the shooting, she was still attending to him and wants him to eventually come home.<\/p>\n Katz did not reveal details about what police asked the family following the shooting, nor did she give a timeline for when and under what authority the police searched family members\u2019 phones. The family members have said they were pressured to hand over their phones and were asked immigration related questions.<\/p>\n After court Chakraborty\u2019s mother read a brief statement without taking questions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a nightmare. We didn\u2019t need police, we just needed medical transport,\u201d Juli Chakraborty said. \u201cKatz must have no heart at all. Why does she want to torture a young man who has already suffered so much? Our family is demanding that she drop these charges against Jabez and that he be unshackled as he recovers.\u201d<\/p>\n Four members of the Police Benevolent Association sat in front of the family during the arraignment. Outside the courthouse, union president Patrick Hendry underscored the sister\u2019s words to police at the scene that she was thankful they had come.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not for the public to decide,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has to go through the justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani, at an unrelated event Friday, said \u201cno family should have to endure this kind of pain,\u201d reiterating his calls for overhauling the city\u2019s approach to mental health incidents. \u201cWhat they need right now is care, dignity, and support.<\/p>\n \u201cJabez should not be prosecuted by the Queens district attorney,\u201d the mayor added. \u201cHis handcuffs should be removed and he should be receiving the care that he needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Katz pushed back against the mayor, saying that she looks forward to his solutions for the city\u2019s mental health care system.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mental health system didn’t work, for whatever reason,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe it did or maybe it didn\u2019t, but we still need to assess that. \u2029But at the end of the day, we’re faced with the circumstances that we are faced with today.\u201d<\/p>\n This story has been updated with more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Queens prosecutors brought charges Friday against a man who\u2019d been shot by police last month \u2014 over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-468721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-united-states-of-america","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}