New York City Council Member Chi Ossé arrested at Brooklyn anti-eviction protest

New York City Council Member Chi Ossé was arrested Wednesday during an anti-eviction protest in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood.

In a video posted to the 36th District Council Member’s Instagram account, Ossé can be seen standing in front of a home in Bed-Stuy alongside other demonstrators, before NYPD officers throw him to the ground and handcuff him.

“Council Member Chi Ossé was just arrested while defending his constituent, Carmella Charrington, from eviction,” the video caption reads. “This is the result of deed theft and the ongoing displacement of Black homeowners in Bed-Stuy.”

Deed theft, a term that describes transferring the deed to a home without the knowledge of the original owner, has been an area of attention for Ossé, who has been pushing for an eviction moratorium in such cases for the past several months, per a statement from his office. The phenomenon disproportionately affects Black and Latinx homeowners, and has been the target of state-level legislation in New York since 2023, and reportedly tripled in the last three years. An advocate for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ rights, and reinvesting city budget in local communities, Ossé was first elected to the council in 2021 and re-elected in 2025.

At the center of Wednesday’s protest is Carmella Charrington, a constituent of Ossé’s whose family has lived in the same Bed-Stuy home for 103 years, per the magazine Brownstoner, and who was jailed on Rikers Island last week after fighting to prevent what she has called an illegal deed theft. The demonstration today was another attempt to prevent the family from being evicted from the home.

“We are outraged by the violent arrest of our colleague Council Member Chi Ossé, and demand his immediate release from NYPD custody,” fellow New York City Council Members Alexa Avilés, Tiffany Cabán, and Shahana Hanif wrote in a joint statement following the arrest. “We witnessed a brutal police attack on a Council Member and community members defending a Black homeowner facing eviction through illegal deed theft. We again demand that Governor Hochul enact an eviction moratorium.”

Constituents sounded off in the comments of the Instagram caption, condemning the NYPD for arresting the Council Member, including high-profile queer and trans New Yorkers such as Gaydar host Anania, performer and organizer Chiquitita, and social media creator Antoni Bumba.

“FREE CHI NOW!!!” LGBTQ+ activist and costume designer Qween Jean wrote in the comments of the video.

Ossé is currently being held and processed at the 79th Precinct at 263 Tompkins Avenue in Bed-Stuy. His office has asked supporters to consider donating to Charrington’s GoFundMe for her legal fees while incarcerated.

“We encourage you to show up to the precinct to call for his release and support Black homeowners whose homes are being stolen through deed theft,” the statement reads.

This story was originally published on Them.