“In a statement to The Daily Beast, the New York Police Department confirmed that officers had arrested David Nieves, of Brooklyn, on Tuesday morning in connection with an assault on Bottcher’s 52-year-old neighbor,” reported Tim Teeman. “Bottcher welcomed news of the arrest, telling The Daily Beast: ‘Violence, intimidation and vandalism are never acceptable. A message needs to be sent to hate groups everywhere that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated.'”
“During the episode at Bottcher’s Chelsea building on Dec. 19 … the sidewalk outside was defaced with hateful, homophobic slurs directed against Bottcher, including ‘OK Groomer,’ ‘Child Predator,’ and ‘Erik Boccher (sic) Is a Pedo Child Groomer!'” said the report. “Bottcher, whose district encompasses Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, and Greenwich Village, posted a video allegedly showing one of his neighbors being physically assaulted by the extremists during the incident. A group of protesters also entered and reportedly vandalized his nearby office building.”