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Sunday, January 29, 2023

Protester charged with punching cops had previous arrest, released without bail

 A woman arrested for assault after she allegedly punched two cops during a Times Square Tyre Nichols demonstration was freed without bail Saturday.

Prosecutors from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office raised no objection as Candy Nicole, 25, was released on her own recognizance following the Manhattan Criminal court appearance.

An attorney for the Nicole claimed her client was a victim of “unnecessary police force,” during the Friday night protests, which included a man who smashed the windshield of an NYPD patrol car with his foot.

Nicole “maintains her innocence,” lawyer Caroline Glickler said.

Nicole was previously arrested in October, following an alleged “forcible touching” incident in Harlem, where she grabbed her male partner’s testicles during an argument, the NYPD said.

Nicole, who is due back in court March 20 on the Times Square assault charge, was not living at the East 28th Street address she gave police, according to building residents.

One protester smashed in an NYPD vehicle's windshield Friday night.
One protester smashed in an NYPD vehicle’s windshield Friday night.
Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Two others were arrested along with Nicole: Manhattan resident Katherine Stone, 34, and Argenis Rivera, 33, a career criminal with a violent past, authorities said.

Rivera was held on $10,000 bail after authorities noted his October arrest for allegedly strangling a mom pushing her 2-year-old in a stroller in Chelsea.

He faces a criminal mischief charge for destroying the NYPD cruiser’s windshield. A lawyer for Rivera asked for house arrest and electronic monitoring if he was released, and a judge agreed.

His parents, who would not give their names, told The Post their son was always “difficult to control” and “always did what he wanted” as a kid.

Rivera has 13 prior arrests, authorities said.

Argenis Rivera
Argenis Rivera was detained after vandalizing the NYPD vehicle.
John Lamparski/NurPhoto via ZUMA

In October, he allegedly slugged and choked a mom pushing her 2-year-old in a stroller at a Chelsea park, and then assaulted another woman, cops said.

In that incident, Rivera allegedly punched the mom in the face and began choking her while screaming, “I am not letting go until police come! … I want to die by police.”

He then turned to a woman sitting on a bench nearby, and pressed keys to her throat and said, “Go ahead call the cops I don’t care,” punched and her and pinned her to the ground, the NYPD said Saturday.

Protester arrested
Protests erupted in NYC following the release of the body cam footage of the night Tyre Nichols was beaten.
Christopher Sadowski for NY Post

Rivera has a history of psychiatric issues, sources said, and in August, he was charged with punching a doorman at a Midtown building but was released because the assault charge is not eligible for bail under the state’s lenient criminal justice reforms.

Stone, who was accused of defacing a cop car, was issued a desk appearance ticket for criminal mischief and possessing graffiti tools, authorities said. She did not return messages.

In 2020, with riots roiling the city after the death of George Floyd, notable arrests sprung from demonstrations in the five boroughs, including that of Clara Kraebber, the wealthy daughter of a Manhattan psychiatrist and architect who was later cleared when prosecutors dropped the charges, and lawyers Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman, accused of tossing a molotov cocktail at an empty NYPD van.

https://nypost.com/2023/01/28/tyre-nichols-protester-who-punched-nypd-cops-released/

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