Exclusive | Migrant accused of brutal beating of NYC police officer caught at border – and released –

The migrant accused of leading the infamous beating of two police officers in Times Square had been caught crossing the US border illegally just months earlier – but was released by the Harris-Biden administration.

Yohenry Brito, 24, of Venezuela, illegally crossed the border into El Paso, Texas, and was detained by border agents on May 9, 2023, according to a House Judiciary Committee report on the migrant's file obtained exclusively by The Post.

A few days later, on May 17, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security approved his release to the United States on parole because there was “no room in detention centers.” Brito had stated that he needed asylum in the United States because he was afraid of having to return to Venezuela.

Brito was subsequently arrested several times for a number of crimes in New York City, including the beating of two NYPD police officers in Manhattan in January.

The suspect is currently being held on bail for the beating and several other offenses.

DHS was slow to release the Brito records to congressional officials, withholding them for three months after Judiciary Subcommittee on Integrity, Security and Immigration Enforcement Chairman Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) first requested them, the committee said.

The Judiciary Committee rebuked “President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the 'border czar'” for releasing Brito – and “well over 7 million illegal immigrants” – into the U.S., saying the move had led to crime across the country.

“The results are all too predictable: cities are overwhelmed, public services are devastated, and communities are devastated by the criminality of some illegal aliens,” the Justice Department report said. “Although the Biden-Harris administration claims that illegal aliens are vetted before being released into the United States, the reality is far more disturbing.”

When Harris, 59, was California's junior senator, she also supported left-wing positions on immigration policy – including the decriminalization of illegal border crossings. However, since replacing 81-year-old Biden at the top of the 2024 Democratic ticket, she has stepped back from these positions.

When Brito was released from custody at the U.S. border, he was instructed not to associate with or become involved in any known gang members or criminal associates and not to “commit any crimes.”

Shortly afterwards, he is said to have helped brutally beat the two police officers together with at least two other migrants linked to the unscrupulous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Brito was charged with assault, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence.

He and his six alleged accomplices were released from custody shortly after the violent incident, which was caught on camera. After a public outcry, he was then held on bail of $15,000 cash or $50,000 – when it was revealed he allegedly instigated the attack while two theft charges were still pending.

Brito was finally released in February when the Reverend Juan Ruiz, the activist pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, raised $15,000 for his release.

“Our church is basically a sanctuary,” Ruiz told the Post at the time. “We assume people are innocent until proven otherwise.”

But two months later, Brito was caught red-handed for petty theft when he allegedly tried to steal children's clothing and “perfumes” from Macy's flagship store in Herald Square.

Judge Laura Ward told Manhattan Criminal Court she was “furious” that he was arrested again while out on bail in the NYPD beating case and warned that another slip-up would land him behind bars.

“I am very tempted to put you in jail right now. I am telling you now, if I hear that you are arrested again for any reason between now and the conclusion of this case, I will issue a warrant and set bail so high that you will not be released,” she said.

“If you run a red light, jump a turnstile or do anything else and I have to issue a search warrant, you will not see the light of day until this case is closed,” Ward said.

It wasn’t long before Brito was charged with another crime – this time serial theft.

He is accused of robbing a Sephora store twice: once in July, when he cut security wires on display cases to steal perfumes, and another time in early August, when he stole $1,358 worth of merchandise from the store's shelves before fleeing with an accomplice who was not arrested, police sources previously told The Post.

Brito was charged with theft in connection with the Sephora robbery on August 12. He was held on $25,000 bail for the grand larceny in July, in addition to $50,000 bail for the Times Square police officer beating.

The House Judiciary Committee has released a series of reports this year on the U.S. border crisis, including crimes allegedly committed by migrants in major cities such as New York and Chicago.

The crimes are the result of inadequate “screening” at the southern border, which amounts to cross-checking migrants “against a blank sheet of paper,” as former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott testified before the panel last year.