CNN’s Erica Hill was stunned speechless Friday after CNN’s Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence analyst John Miller explained why some migrants will go on a crime spree in New York, party in Florida but return to the Big Apple — because in Florida, they’d be arrested. A group of illegal immigrants allegedly beat up two officers Saturday in Times Square. Video footage appears to show the two officers speaking to the group of migrants before a fight breaks out. Several illegal immigrants then allegedly begin punching and kicking the officers down to the ground.
Hill played a clip from Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in which she said, “Get them all, and send them back” in regards to the aforementioned migrants.
“To hear her talk about that, it is also directly related to the fact that these were police officers. Does that have any impact? Does that change anything?”
“Well, it’s so complicated because, you know, you’re a New Yorker. You move through the city every day as I do. We see these people. We touch these people. They’re out looking for work. They’re delivering our food. They’re at the gas stations and the car wash. These are people who came in waves, you know, 170,000 probably to New York City. But within that group, this hard-working, you know, throngs of people in search of hope and a better life, there is this one percent you know, criminal element that looks at a different opportunity here,” Miller said.
“These individuals, I went over their rap sheets yesterday. Multiple charges. Grand larceny, robbery, attempted robbery, grand larceny, grand larceny. This particular crew operated on mopeds and scooters. They were doing organized retail theft. They were doing snatches on the street, iPhones, iPads, clothing, so on and so forth. One of them that they are still seeking has 10 charges in one day because he’s part of a pattern that’s been going on. And I’m looking at the dates that their arrests started, which is probably close to when they got here. They’ve only been here a couple of months.”
“So what the detectives are telling me is, they have crews here that operate in New York, do all their stealing, then go to Florida to spend the money and then come back. I’m like, ‘Why don’t they just stay and steal in Florida?’ They said, ‘Because there you go to jail,'” Miller said.
“Oh,” Hill said, stunned, followed by clear seconds of silence before co-host Phil Mattingly jumped in to say it was “fascinating.”
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to the clip on Friday during a press briefing, saying the criminals know they’ll be held accountable in the Sunshine State, receiving a round of applause.
“You can see why people are fleeing some of those areas that can’t even keep the streets safe, they can’t even keep homeless off the streets, its been really, really problematic in many parts of our country,” DeSantis said. “We’re doing it right here.”
The perpetrators have been identified as 19-year-old Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19-year-old Kelvin Servita Arocha, 22-year-old Jhoan Boada and 21-year-old Wilson Juarez. Three other suspects remain at large, according to the New York Post. All five suspects were released without bail.