NEW YORK TIMES
April 2, 2021
NYSZ — Two of the three alleged ringleaders on trial for their part in an illegal fighting club were abducted during a standoff on Rikers Bridge between a group of radical SLC-E protestors and law enforcement earlier today. Two Corrections officers and one of the protestors suffered minor injuries.
The group of masked protestors included two with telekinetic abilities who threatened to throw the bus over the side of the bridge. Former Presidential hopeful Louise Noble, BioViva CEO Biel Cordero, and former NYPD chief Samuel Irons were the only inmates on the bus, along with three Corrections officers. After a tense stand-off in which NYPD and SESA agents used SLC-abilities, rubber bullets, and tear gas against the rioting protestors, the rioters stopped their efforts. Three of the suspects were arrested but another ten or so were able to escape, due to the focus of efforts on maintaining the safety of those in the bus and the bystanders on the bridge, NYPD spokesman Dave McClure stated.
When officers went to retrieve the inmates, only Irons was still in the bus. According to McClure, one of the three Corrections officers is also missing. "Irons and one of the other guards both gave statements that Jeremy Haas, corrections officer, teleported the Cordero and Irons out. The protestors we have in custody have stated that they were not acting together. Anyone with information on what took place or on the whereabouts of the missing individuals is encouraged to contact the NYPD."
The incident started when about a dozen protestors held up the northbound lane to Rikers Island and refused to move. The protestors stripped responding officers of their weapons using their abilities and lifted the bus into the air. One of the protestors stood on a police car and used a megaphone to state that the group had no trust in the justice system, witnesses said.
The three arrested individuals are all minors, according to McClure, who added that one who claims not to speak English has a tattoo of an eight-pointed star, potentially tying him to Mazdak, though the other two claim they are not affiliated with the group and that none of the escaped protestors were, to their knowledge.
Bystanders were split on their views of the events, with some siding with the SLC-E rioters.
"Noble and her cronies abducted, drugged, and pitted innocent people against one another. She deserves worse," said Angela Majorca, a 20-year-old Brooklyn College student who was on the bridge that day.
But according to Raj Patel, a nurse who works at Rikers, the protest went too far.
"I understand their frustration, but things could have gone far, far worse out there. We must let the justice system do its job."
His sentiments echo those of SCOUT Lieutenant Elisabeth Harrison, who used her ability of audiokinesis to get the rioters to lower the bus. According to bystanders, she had told the group that they needed to let the system work instead of stooping to the level of those in the bus.
Irons was returned to Rikers Island and will still stand trial for his part in the fight club; he has gone on record in the past claiming he was just a witness and took no part in the actual abductions of the SLC-E victims.