It's all theater
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Racist attacker set back on the streets 12 hours after arrest
An ex-con arrested for allegedly spewing anti-Asian threats at an undercover NYPD cop was back on the street Saturday, outraging critics who panned the Big Apple’s “revolving door justice system.”
Juvian Rodriguez, 35, was released on his own recognizance at 1 a.m., following his Manhattan Criminal Court arraignment on a misdemeanor harassment charge that alleges he targeted the undercover Asian cop based on race.
Because of last year’s state bail reform law, attacks that cause no injury are exempt from bail in New York — even if the victims were targeted for their race, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation.
Previously, setting bail would have been left to the discretion of the judge.
“This is the revolving door justice system,” said Michael Alcazar, a retired NYPD detective who is now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“The plain-clothes officers are out there doing their jobs to get the criminal element off the streets. But we hit this roadblock as usual, where we arrest them, charge them, and then in this case — despite a lengthy rap sheet — the suspect is free to roam,” he added.
Rodriguez faces up to a year in jail on that top harassment charge, plus a misdemeanor drug charge for a crack pipe allegedly recovered from his fanny pack, the criminal complaint against him alleges.
He will be monitored by a court-ordered supervised release program.
Rodriguez had the tables turned on him Friday in Midtown when the target of his alleged venom turned out to be an undercover NYPD cop, police said.
The undercover cop was patrolling at 32nd Street and 7th Avenue at around 1:10 p.m. when Rodriguez approached, police said.
Unaware he was dealing with one of New York’s Finest, Rodriguez allegedly sneered, “Go back to China before you end up in a graveyard!” He also allegedly continued, “I’m gonna slap the holy piss out of you and stab you in the face.”
Rodriguez had 24 prior arrests — ranging from criminal trespassing to grand larceny, forgery, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal possession of a weapon — before Friday’s bust, an NYPD spokeswoman said.
The NYPD redeployed its plainclothes cops last month to helped deal with the surging anti-Asian crimes in the Big Apple.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea lauded the initiative Saturday at a graffiti cleanup in Bushwick.
“We are out there in force, we are out there in uniform. We are out there in plain clothes,” he said.
MAGA Man, Mr. Juvian Rodriguez
