Controversy swirls following violent altercation between NYPD and migrant family at Queens shelter
NEW YORK -- CBS New York heard Tuesday from the migrant at the center of a controversial video that shows police deploying a stun gun on him while he holds his baby.
The NYPD said it was initially called to the Queens shelter for a dispute involving an intoxicated father, but the father said he was sober and struggling to communicate because of a language barrier.
What happened next was captured on cellphone video. The footage starts in the middle of an altercation Friday with police inside of a city-run shelter for asylum seekers.
NYPD officers are seen surrounding a migrant by the elevator. As the situation escalates, they pull away his screaming wife and what sounds like a stun gun can be heard, while the migrant holds his 1-year-old baby in his arms.
Watch Ali Bauman's report
On Tuesday, Yanny Cordero, 47, showed CBS New York the marks on his stomach where he says the stun gun was used. He says at the time his only concern was for his young son Alejandro.
During the chaos, Alejandro's mother was eventually able to grab the baby as officers continued to restrain Cordero, pushing him against a table and then punching him before a security guard appeared and tried to stop the officers.
Cordero said in Spanish he feels he was treated like an animal.
Both he and his wife were arrested and their three sons were taken by Children's Services before being returned to their care on Sunday.
"He was a violent. He was volatile. They had to take that necessary action, and, you know, based on our review, those officers took appropriate action," Mayor Eric Adams said.
Watch Lisa Rozner's report
Police said Cordero was intoxicated and disorderly, but he refutes that, claiming the altercation started when he returned to the shelter with food and a staff member stopped him.
Cordero said no one on the staff spoke Spanish, so he tried explaining through a translation app that he would not bring the food upstairs, per the rules, but instead staff called police.
One shelter resident, who did not want to be identified, said she witnessed the initial back-and-forth, and that Cordero did not appear intoxicated. She added she feels the staff members often lack empathy.
Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said of this, "The city must hire shelter staff who are culturally competent and bilingual or multilingual to ensure that communication breakdowns don't lead to avoidable misunderstandings that escalate into violence."
CBS New York showed the video to Brian Higgins, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice lecturer and retired chief of the Bergen County Police Department.
"Usually, when you strike someone, particularly with a closed fist, you should not strike them in the head or face in most police departments," Higgins said.
Cordero said he's worried his son may have been injured from the stun gun, but Higgins quelled those fears.
"Once the Taser is deployed, it only affects the individual who was struck," Higgins said.
Even though the stun gun would only affect the person it's used on, Higgins said there was a risk that he could have dropped the baby.
Cordero was charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child, and both he and his wife were charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.