Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his leftist allies are pressuring Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to drop charges against Jabez Chakraborty, a mentally ill 22-year-old who was shot by a police officer on Jan. 26 after he charged at him with a kitchen knife.
“No family should have to endure this kind of pain. What they need right now is care, dignity, and support,” Mamdani said at a press conference last Friday. “Jabez should not be prosecuted by the Queens district attorney. His handcuffs should be removed, and he should be receiving the care that he needs.”
Police and EMS were called to the Briarwood resident after his family called 911 to report a schizophrenic episode in which he threw glass at the wall. He was shot four times. After multiple surgeries, he remains hospitalized on a ventilator.
The police shooting of Chakraborty underscores Mamdani’s argument that 911 calls relating to mental health emergencies should not be addressed by the police, as similar incidents also resulted in officers shooting their alleged attackers.
Katz defended charging Chakraborty as a matter of public safety. “As prosecutors, we are duty-bound to follow the facts, evidence and circumstances where they lead us, including in cases that have a mental health component,” she said last week. “Dispositions can take vastly different forms, and I will use the resources of my office to address the unique needs in this case while upholding my responsibility to keep this borough safe.”
The group representing Chakraborty’s family is Desis Rising Up Movement (DRUM), which advocates for South Asian communities across the city. Their prior legal tussle with Katz involved Prakash Churaman, a Jamaica resident who was convicted for murder in 2014 when he was a teen, which was later overturned on appeal based on a false confession. He was released in 2022 after Katz dropped all charges against him. Churaman’s experience being prosecuted and jailed received national attention for its heavy-handed approach and Churaman’s lack of resources in clearing his name. After his release, he sued the city for $25 million for false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, denial of a fair trial.
A former Assemblywoman, Councilwoman and Borough President, Katz narrowly won the 2019 Democratic primary for her current office, beating public defender Tiffany Caban by 55 votes after a recount. With the support of the DSA, Caban later won the City Council seat covering Astoria, the neighborhood where Mamdani secured his first elected office as a State Assemblyman. Both Caban and Mamdani ran on a “decarceral” platform, seeking to close the Rikers Island jail and reduce the number of inmates awaiting trial through bail reform. DRUM supported both candidates in their political careers along with routine demonization of Israel as an “apartheid” state practicing “genocide.”
On its face, the prosecution of mentally ill individuals should not be related to the Palestinian cause, but in DRUM’s intersectional approach to public policy, Israel is regarded as a police state deserving of the scorn directed towards the NYPD, ICE, and other law enforcement agencies. In her role as District Attorney, Katz follows the “facts, evidence and circumstances” but as an elected official she is also subject to the voters’ views on law enforcement and crime prevention.
While Mamdani and DRUM are pressuring Katz to drop charges against Chakraborty, activists on the political right are upset at Katz for her conviction last November of Kew Gardens resident Charles Foehner. The retired doorman fatally shot his mugger and was then charged with illegal weapons possession after a search of his home. “This stockpile was not a collection of your grandfather’s harmless, inoperable, antique weapons. This was an arsenal of lethal firearms and assault weapons possessed in full violation of New York State law,” Katz said at the time. Facing the possibility of 25 years in prison, Foehner pleaded to unlicensed gun charges and was given a four-year sentence.
Perhaps it is questionable why Foehner amassed an arsenal of 26 unlicensed and unregistered weapons, 13,000 rounds of ammunition and 152 large capacity feeding devices, while being mindful that he had no prior convictions nor any history relating to mental health.
Looking at Katz’s overall record as it relates to the Jewish community, she is outspoken in prosecuting hate crimes, cracking down on illegal weed shops, vehicle theft, and removing illegal scooters. The Queens Jewish community is fortunate to have her as the borough’s top law enforcement official. As Katz remains vigilant on combating antisemitism, theft, and quality of life crimes, she should work with the mayor on mental health. The optics of charging Chakraborty with apparent disregard of his mental condition can lead many voters to elect a socialist whose policies would extend beyond that topic to include “decarceration,” disregard for antisemitism, less cooperation with police, and leniency towards nonviolent crimes such as property theft.
In contrast to the mayor, borough president, and City Council members, the District Attorney is not subject to term limits. The next election of Katz’s office will be in 2027.
By Sergey Kadinsky
