On July 21, a federal judge ordered the release of 21-year-old Jakhi McCray on bail during a pretrial hearing in Brooklyn, NY after rejecting arguments from federal prosecutors who claimed that McCray is a “danger to the community” and a “flight risk” and should be held in detention. Federal prosecutors allege that McCray was behind the successful torching of 10 NYPD police cars and a police trailer in Brooklyn on June 12 that took place amid escalations in the pro-Palestine and the anti-ICE movements across the country. After the judge rejected their arguments, the prosecutors moved to appeal the decision. The appeal was rejected by a second judge, setting in motion the process for McCray to go home to his family on a $300,000 bail and house arrest.
The court was packed on Monday—in addition to McCray’s courtroom, another 60 supporters filled a viewing room and dozens more rallied outside. McCray’s defense pointed this out, telling the judge to note “all the supporters here for McCray.” One attendee told The Worker how the struggle against repression was “bringing people together” instead of scaring them, rejecting the state’s intimidation tactics.
Instead of fear, there was solidarity with the defendant and open mockery toward the prosecutors. Throughout the trial, the viewing room erupted in laughter at the absurd arguments brought by the federal government. The prosecutors argued that McCray should not be released because he showed “no concern for NYPD and FDNY”, and that the firemen could have been potentially injured because McCray allegedly started a fire. Even the judge responded derisively, plainly stating that, by that logic, every arson property crime would then be elevated to a violent crime toward fire fighters.
The prosecutors also argued that the vehicles were torched before the Democrat-organized “No Kings Day” parade, preventing the police from using the vehicles to “protect the public.” This drew considerable laughter from the crowd.
A particular point of mockery by both attendees and the judge was the prosecutor’s argument that McCray “made it difficult” to be captured by the police by using a VPN and alleging that his mother created an Instagram account in his name to “throw off law enforcement.”
The judge rejected each of the prosecutor’s arguments one by one and announced that McCray will be set free on bail, leading the audience to erupt in applause.
While the order for release is a victory for the anti-imperialist movement, there remains a long way to go. McCray’s family was forced to place their house as collateral in order to set him free, and he will remain on house arrest. If convicted, the charges include a federal mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison and a maximum of 20 years in prison—though according to McCray’s lawyer, such cases usually reach a plea deal and settle for below the minimum.
After the pretrial hearing, a rally was held outside in McCray’s defense.
McCray wrote in a statement prior to turning himself in, “I’m not, nor was I ever, scared…. I don’t know what will happen now, but I do know that I will never stop fighting and I will do my best wherever I find myself to be.”
Read McCray’s entire statement here. You can support McCray’s fundraiser here.
Correction 07/21/25: At the time of this writing, McCray was ordered to be released on his arson charge. However, McCray’s attorney said his client remains in police custody on a separate misdemeanor count in Manhattan.
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