Mamdani criticized for opposing prosecution after alleged knife confrontation

New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani confronted backlash Sunday after suggesting {that a} mentally in poor health man who was shot after allegedly attacking law enforcement officials with a knife deserves psychological well being therapy as a substitute of felony costs.

“For Mamdani to take a place on this that may painting that police officer as doing one thing totally different than what you’ll study in a course is malpractice for the place he holds, and I hope somebody holds him accountable for that,” stated Joey Jones, co-host of The Massive Weekend Present.

Jones’ feedback got here after 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty was shot by NYPD officers in Queens for allegedly attacking them with a big kitchen knife throughout a psychological well being episode — a case that has sparked debate over Mamdani’s name for therapy as a substitute of prosecution.

Police informed Fox Information Digital on Thursday that the household had requested their son’s involuntary elimination, a request that requires each police and EMS to reply.

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New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks throughout an announcement on junk charges on the Susan and John Hess Household Theater on the Whitney Museum of American Artwork in New York on January 21, 2026. (Adam Grey/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)

The Queens District Lawyer’s Workplace is investigating the incident. Preliminary studies point out prosecutors are contemplating an tried homicide cost.

Mamdani, nevertheless, met with Chakraborty’s household and reiterated their argument that he “wants psychological well being care, not felony prosecution by a prosecutor.”

“We’re speaking a few household that endures the type of ache that no household ought to must endure, and about a person who has lived with schizophrenia for a few years,” Mamdani stated at a press convention final week.

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This undated picture reveals a New York Police Division (NYPD) badge on a uniformed officer. (iStock)

“Somebody experiencing a psychiatric episode doesn’t all the time have to be helped first or solely by a police officer. It is crucial that we’ve got all accessible choices,” he added.

Jones stated Mamdani’s stance warrants seen pushback from legislation enforcement, just like officers beforehand turning their backs on metropolis leaders.

Fox Information contributor Man Benson stated the video makes it clear that police exhausted all choices earlier than utilizing power. Mamdani’s response reveals that he views the suspect – not the officer – as the first sufferer.

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“To then stand in solidarity with the knife service who ignored police orders and seem in that hospital room as if he have been the true sufferer, as a substitute of the police officer who in the end fired his weapon in self-defense…

“It says every little thing about this mayor of this metropolis, what he sees as his worldview, who he sees as victims and aggressors, and I do not suppose the film will get any higher from right here,” he stated.

Mamdani made tackling the psychological well being disaster a key a part of his 2025 marketing campaign.

Landon Mion and Michael Sinkewicz of Fox Information contributed to this report.