By: Veronica Kordmany
Tiffany Harris infamously made headlines after being repeatedly set free without bail on hate crime charges under the New York State’s new bail reform law.
Federal Magistrate Judge Robert Levy ordered Tiffany Harris, 30, to be released on her own recognizance from Brooklyn federal court after she was arraigned Friday.
Federal prosecutors had fought to keep Harris in custody after she was arrested for attacking Jewish women in Brooklyn, arguing that she poses an “ongoing” threat to public safety and that she showed no “fear of law enforcement or any other consequences” by randomly assaulting total strangers in three separate incidents.
“The continuing nature of the defendant’s criminal conduct demonstrates that she is responsible in part for the increased unrest and compromised quality of life the residents of the communities within Brooklyn have suffered as a result of the ongoing prevalence of hate crimes,” prosecutors argued in court papers. “Hate crimes such as those committed by the defendant have ramifications that extend far beyond the immediate injuries caused to particular victims.”
Harris became the poster child for soft-on-crime bail laws after she was released from jail after each one of her “campaign of anti-Semitic violence”, as federal prosecuters call it, hate-crimes.
She was initially busted on Dec. 27 after allegedly attacking three different Jewish women in Crown Heights. At one point during one of the attacks, she allegedly smacked a Jewish woman on the back of the head and shouted “F–k you, Jews!,” court papers state.
Harris was arrested the following day on three counts of third-degree assault — but was let free. The reason? The new bail-reform laws dictated that the charge was not eligible for bail.
On Dec. 29, Harris allegedly struck again — this time, she punched another Jewish woman who was carrying her 10-month-old child, while also holding hands with her 3-year-old child, as the trio was crossing a street in Prospect Heights.
Harris was arrested for the second attack, yet put back on the street on Dec. 30.
Not even a day later, on Dec. 31, Harris allegedly got into a physical altercation with a social worker during a mandatory meeting, court papers state.
Harris was picked up a third time and a judge ordered her to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
On Jan. 3, she was civilly committed at a Brooklyn hospital — two days later the feds filed a sealed criminal complaint charging her with hate crimes for the Dec. 27 assault. She remained in the hospital until she was handed over to federal custody, court papers state.
Tiffany’s lawyers, who were hired as Federal Defenders of New York, said in a public statement that it is “rare” for defendants to be charged at both the state and federal levels for the same offense. They then proceeded to accuse US Attorney Richard Donoghue of using Harris’ case as a means to attack New York’s bail laws.
“When federal prosecutors decided to charge Tiffany Harris, the U.S. Attorney publicly announced that they were doing so, at least in part, in order to address shortcomings caused by New York’s bail reform law,” the statement reads. “Tiffany Harris should not be used as a pawn in the federal government’s battle with New York State over bail reform. That will not ensure public safety.”
The US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn declined to comment on the release.
