New York State Assemblywoman Zheng Yongjia Provides Free Legal Aid for Protesters Arrested

On July 17, a protest was held in front of a homeless shelter on 86th Street in Brooklyn, where some of the arrested individuals received assistance from New York State Assemblyman Zheng Yongjia. Zheng Yongjia enlisted the help of his longtime lawyer friend, Tony Hom, to represent them in court for free. Yesterday afternoon (July 26), Tony Hom met with six community members who had been arrested.

Zheng Yongjia stated that Tony Hom is a former assistant prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and has also served as an environmental administrative judge. He expressed confidence that Hom’s legal expertise could help the six arrested individuals. According to Hom, he joined the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office in 1995 and later became a partner in a law firm, with over 20 years of experience handling criminal and civil cases.

The individuals present at the meeting were all first-time arrestees and expressed confusion and unease about being arrested during the protest. For instance, 72-year-old Mr. Huang said he still doesn’t understand why he was arrested. He recalled that the scene was chaotic, someone pushed him from behind causing his glasses to fall, and as he bent down to pick them up, five police officers handcuffed him from behind. “I don’t speak English, so when I was being arrested, I could only say in Chinese: ‘My glasses, my glasses’,” Mr. Huang said.

During yesterday’s meeting, Tony Hom thoroughly discussed the situations of the six arrested individuals, including the circumstances of the incident and their experiences at the police station post-arrest. Currently, four of them are expected to appear in Manhattan state court on August 5, while the other two will appear in the Brooklyn state court on the same day. Most of them are facing charges of “disorderly conduct.”

Hom stated that his defense strategy is to seek an “Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal (ACD),” a judicial procedure that, within a certain period (usually six months), allows charges to be fully dismissed if the defendant stays out of trouble during that time, without any impact on their future job or educational opportunities. Additionally, in New York, “disorderly conduct” is considered a violation, not a crime.

Hom noted that as long as the participants engage in peaceful protest without causing harm to anyone, he is optimistic about a successful resolution of the cases.

Zheng Yongjia emphasized that to safeguard the rights of those arrested, they will be represented in court free of charge by Tony Hom. He acknowledged the anxiety of the arrestees and is committed to ensuring their rights are protected, alleviating their concerns.