Two arrested in anti-LGBTQ damage spree targeting the home and office of a Manhattan politician

By Pravitha Kartha Last updated Dec 20, 2022

Two individuals were detained on Monday for breaking into the apartment building of a member of the New York City Council, the police said. According to police, persons enraged about a very recent story time session at a Manhattan library attacked the home and office of Councilman Erik Bottcher.

The group calls itself “gays against groomers,” according to a tweet from a politician. At around 3 p.m., they attacked the Democrat’s Chelsea office, according to the police.

Bottcher said a vulgar variant of his surname was scribbled on the corridor outside the district office by vandals. He should have responded promptly to a request for comment.

“We will not be intimidated,” he tweeted on Monday evening. We will not be silent. We will continue to oppose hatred.”

Later, the mob assembled in front of the councilman’s apartment building and scrawled threatening and insulting slogans on the sidewalk. One blaring assertion said, “Erik Boucher is a pedo child groomer.”

At around 5:00 p.m., two ladies broke into the building, causing Bottcher’s supervisor to contact the police. Late Monday night, they were apprehended, and charges were pending, according to police. Bottcher said in a tweet, “This is pure hatred shown.” If they believe that this would terrify us, they are incorrect. Our determination is reinforced.”

In 2021, he was elected to represent Council District 3, which encompasses Greenwich Village, Hell’s Kitchen, Hudson Square, Flatiron, Times Square, and the Garment District. On his website, he portrays his modest childhood in a tiny hamlet in the Adirondack Mountains as one in which he “knows just one homosexual person.”

On Saturday, Bottcher attended a “very harmless and charming” drag story time at the Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library in Chelsea, an event that infuriated those opposed to the children’s program. Saturday, Bottcher told a protester outside the library, “They are standard books.” “I was present.”