Shocking new footage captures the moment a roving band of teens and two city housing authority workers brutally allegedly beat former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson in the Big Apple.
Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, whose son Anthony Chester Sliwa is Paterson's stepson, posted shocking footage of the October 4 attack on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"I'm disgusted to see two grown adults claim innocence after attacking a 20-year-old and a 70-year-old who is legally blind," Sliwa wrote on Wednesday. "If a former Governor can't even be safe of violence, no one is safe. Too many #NYC families have had a loved one fall victim to violence."
"He is still recovering as he was violently beaten to the ground, while standing his ground with Governor Paterson who is recovering as well," the elder Sliwa wrote.
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"I read that two of the attackers, both aged 30 and 45, took it up on themselves to ATTACK Anthony and Gov. Paterson as the other teens were trash talking, before kicking Anthony on the ground and punching Paterson," he continued. "These adults escalated the violence and now are trying to claim they are innocent?"
Two teens were arrested in connection with the attack on former Gov. Paterson and his 20-year-old stepson as the pair walked their dog in Manhattan on Friday night, authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital on Sunday morning.
Police identified the two teens as a 12-year-old male, who was charged with second-degree gang assault, and a 13-year-old male, who was charged with third-degree gang assault. Their names were withheld because they are minors.
Detectives have been searching for five suspects they say were involved in the attack on Paterson and his stepson, just after 8:30 p.m. Friday on the Upper East Side.
FORMER NEW YORK GOV. DAVID PATERSON, STEPSON ATTACKED BY GROUP OF SUSPECTS WHILE WALKING DOG
"Everyone is subject to attack - any time, any place," the elder Sliwa told Fox News Digital. "These random attacks are out of control. [My son] is traumatized."
Five unidentified individuals confronted Paterson and Sliwa and began a verbal altercation that police say escalated into a physical attack that left the former governor with an injury to his head and his stepson with a more severe injury to his face. Paterson and his stepson were treated at a local hospital.
On Monday, New York City Housing Authority employees Travor Nurse and Diamond Minter, 34, were arrested in the attack. Nurse is charged with gang assault and assault, a police spokesperson said, while another woman, Diamond Minter, 34, has also been charged with gang assault.
Officers escorted Nurse, 40, out of the 23rd Precinct in handcuffs on Monday. Asked by a reporter why he allegedly assaulted Paterson and his stepson, Nurse replied, "He attacked me," without specifying who he was referring to.
When asked what had happened, Nurse said, "Look at my eye," showing reporters his injuries before officers put him in the back of a police cruiser.
"His son punched me in my eye and I defended myself," Nurse said, before officers slammed the door.
"One of the main reasons that I posted [the video] is that the two adult assailants… were arraigned in court and their legal aid attorneys said 'no, our clients were the peacemakers, they tried to stop the situation… it was that Anthony Sliwa and Governor Paterson that actually started the fight," Curtis Sliwa told Fox News Digital.
"Without this video, leave it to Alvin Bragg. What has he always done? He's sided with the criminals versus the victims time and time again," he continued. "Let's see how it's going to be put before the grand jury… this is a litmus test. If [Alvin Bragg] doesn't defend Paterson, a lifelong friend and political who came up in the Democratic party ranks with him, who will he defend?"
Paterson, who is 70 and legally blind, told FreedomNews.TV on Saturday that his stepson first encountered three of the teens when he spotted them climbing a fire escape to a building in the neighborhood and yelled that he would call the police if they didn’t go back down to the street.
"They came down. He got into it with one of them and that was kind of the end of it," Paterson said.
The former governor said that he and his stepson then encountered the teens and their friends later on Second Avenue and an argument ensued.
Paterson said that as the teens argued with his stepson, two other adults intervened and sparked the ensuing fight.
"The kids didn’t start the fight," Paterson said. "They were arguing. Then, when the fight started, everyone got into the fight."
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Paterson told reporters that he was "punched in the face a couple of times" and on the shoulder.
"The person that punched me on the shoulder, I threw them against the McDonald’s window myself," Paterson said.
Paterson said he suffered bruises and some pain to his head. Sliwa, also battered and bruised, received a cut lip that required five stitches, Paterson said.
Curtis Sliwa told Fox News Digital that if Paterson hadn't thrown himself into the fold, "there's no doubt in my mind my son might have been dead."
Police have released descriptions of the five suspects and requested the public's aid in identifying them.
The ex-Democratic governor's spokesperson, Sean Darcy, previously told Fox News Digital that Paterson and his stepson were released from the hospital early Saturday morning.
"The Governor's only request is that people refrain from attempting to use an unfortunate act of violence for their own personal or political gain," said Darcy. "He and his wife, Mary, are thankful for the quick response time from the police and the outpouring of support they have received from people across all spectrums."
Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, assuming the post after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a scandal involving sex workers.
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace, Landon Mion and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
