NYC Council Member Chi Ossé Arrested at Bed-Stuy Protest

New York City Council Member Chi Ossé was arrested Wednesday morning during a protest in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, where he sought to block the eviction of a longtime constituent facing what his office described as deed theft.

The incident unfolded outside a home at 212 Jefferson Avenue, where demonstrators gathered to support Carmella Charrington, whose family has resided in the property for over a century. According to a video posted on Ossé's Instagram account, the council member engaged in a verbal exchange with New York Police Department officers, telling one to get off him before being forced to the ground, handcuffed and led away. Onlookers shouted in protest as he was placed in a police vehicle. The NYPD stated that officers responded to a planned demonstration involving about 50 people and arrested Ossé along with several others for failing to comply with orders to disperse. Charges were not immediately specified.

Ossé's office issued a statement on social media, saying the arrest occurred while he defended Charrington from eviction after six decades in her home. "This is the result of deed theft and the ongoing displacement of Black homeowners in...