Jabez Chakraborty

On January 26, 2026, the family of 22-year-old Bangadeshi Jabez Chakraborty called to request an ambulance to take him to a hospital. Diagnosed with schizophrenia when he was 20, he was experiencing an episode of emotional distress. While waiting for the first responders Jabez calmed down and sat to eat breakfast. Then, instead of medical technicians, two cops arrived and entered the house. When he saw the cops in the living room, Jabez picked up a knife and walked toward them. Within 16 seconds of entering the home, officer Tyree White shot Jabez four times.

Four days after the shooting Jabez’s family issued a statement describing that while their son lay bleeding on the floor, the cops demanded their phones and passwords, acting “like ICE, interrogating us on what country we were from, when we last visited, and whether our daughter was born here.” The cops prevented the family from going to the hospital with Jabez and then were “instead forced to the precinct, where NYPD officers interrogated and detained us. The NYPD treated us cruelly when we didn’t even know if our son was alive.” Rushing to the hospital after leaving the precinct, the family was still barred by the cops from seeing Jabez. They had to go back to the precinct the next day to finally receive a 24-hour pass to see him.

Many were outraged when newly-elected “socialist” mayor Zohran Mamdami reacted to the shooting by tweeting “I’m grateful to the first responders who put themselves on the line each day to keep our communities safe.” The family responded: “After all this, we saw Mayor Mamdani’s statement applauding the NYPD officers that shot our son, threatened and lied to us, and kept us from seeing our son for over 24 hours. Why is the Mayor applauding officers who recklessly almost killed our son in front of us?”

As is usual in these cases, the state pressed cover charges against the victim of police brutality. On February 13 Jabez was arraigned while chained to a bed at Jamaica Hospital on charges of attempted assault and weapon possession. For this, he potentially faces 15 years in prison. During the hearing District Attorney Melinda Katz requested Jabez be held without bail and remanded to Rikers Island. The judge rejected the request, noting Jabez had no prior criminal record and was clearly suffering from a psychiatric illness. Bail has been set at $50,000.

Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM) and others, including OPA activists, have come out to Jabez’s court dates to demand the charges be dropped and show support for Jabez and his family. It is the cop who shot up Jabez who should be put in jail! Open the police archives on Tyree White!