Illapa Sairitupac, a Democratic Socialists of America member who won the June 23 Democratic primary for New York's 65th Assembly District, was arrested at least twice at protests, once at a 2021 climate demonstration and again this April inside Governor Kathy Hochul's office. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed him in May.
Sairitupac's arrest record, his ties to DSA, and his appearance at an event hosted by an organization linked to a donor under federal investigation all paint a picture of a candidate whose activist résumé would have disqualified him from serious consideration in an earlier era of Democratic politics. In today's New York, it helped him win a primary.
The Washington Examiner reported that Sairitupac was detained by police during a climate protest in the summer of 2021. Then, this April, he was among 19 people arrested for occupying Hochul's office. DSA posted footage showing Sairitupac inside the building holding a sign that read, "Governor Hochul: our lives or your donors?" He was later shown restrained by police outside.
Sairitupac did not hide the April arrest. He posted about it on Bluesky:
"Last week, I was arrested while protesting Governor Hochul because she refuses to Tax the Rich and refuses to protect public services that working New Yorkers rely on, services that are being threatened by [President] Donald Trump's cuts. I won't stop fighting."
DSA footage captured him speaking to a camera while restrained by police outside the governor's building:
"The time is now. The stakes are way too high to sit it out. We've got to be confronting this, fighting for immigrants, fighting for our queer members... Tax the rich!"
A protest crowd chanted, "Billionaires, make them pay. We pay taxes. Why don't they?" The scene had the feel of a campaign rally wrapped in a police action.
Yet neither arrest appears in New York's public court database. The Washington Examiner checked the state system and found no cases under Sairitupac's name. Whether charges were dropped, sealed, or never filed remains unclear. His campaign did not respond to the Examiner's request for comment.
Mamdani endorsed Sairitupac and other socialist candidates in May. The mayor framed the endorsements in lofty terms:
"These leaders represent the very best of public service: a commitment to tackling challenges both large and small and a belief that government should work for everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected."
That endorsement carried weight. Sairitupac had tried for the same 65th District seat in 2022 and lost. This time, with Mamdani's backing and the broader DSA infrastructure behind him, he won the June 23 primary for the district that covers Chinatown and Lower Manhattan. He now heads into the November general election as the Democratic nominee.
Mamdani's own record in office has drawn sustained criticism. His first 100 days as mayor produced a trail of broken promises on housing, policing, and public libraries, the very public services his endorsed candidates claim to champion.
The socialist primary sweep Sairitupac rode extended beyond his race. Multiple DSA-aligned candidates won June primaries across New York, a trend that prompted moderate Democrats to sign an open letter denouncing socialism within their own party. The growing rift between the party's progressive and moderate wings now threatens Democratic unity heading into the fall.
Sairitupac's activist network extends beyond DSA street protests. In 2023, he spoke at an event on socialism held at the People's Forum building in New York City. The event was documented on the NYC DSA YouTube page.
The People's Forum has received funding from Neville Singham, a donor described as having links to the Chinese government. Singham is under a Department of Justice investigation over possible financial crimes. The exact nature of the alleged crimes, the scope of Singham's funding to the People's Forum, and the precise character of his ties to Beijing are not detailed in public reporting. But the association raises obvious questions about the ideological ecosystem that produced Sairitupac's candidacy.
Mamdani himself has faced scrutiny on other fronts. Senator John Fetterman publicly warned that Mamdani's defiance of a Supreme Court immigration ruling invites a constitutional crisis. Jewish leaders pushed back after the mayor called AIPAC supporters "monsters" at a Brooklyn rally. The pattern is consistent: Mamdani and the candidates he elevates operate outside the boundaries that once governed mainstream Democratic politics.
The 65th Assembly District covers some of the most densely populated blocks in the country. Its residents, many of them immigrants, small-business owners, and working-class families, will now be represented by a candidate whose primary public credential is getting arrested while demanding higher taxes on other people.
Sairitupac's platform, at least as expressed through protest signs and social media posts, centers on taxing the wealthy and expanding public services. His campaign did not respond to press inquiries. His court records are invisible. His prior run for the same seat failed. His endorser is a mayor whose own budget contradicted his stated positions on police hiring.
None of this stopped him from winning the primary. In a district where the Democratic nomination is effectively the general election, the voters of Chinatown and Lower Manhattan may have just elected a state legislator whose most documented public acts are occupying a governor's office and chanting slogans outside it in handcuffs.
Several basic facts remain unresolved. What charges, if any, were filed after either arrest? Why do the cases not appear in the state court database? Were they sealed, dismissed, or simply never prosecuted? What is the full scope of Sairitupac's relationship with the People's Forum and its donor network? And what, exactly, does his legislative agenda look like beyond "Tax the Rich"?
These are not abstract concerns. A state legislator votes on budgets, criminal-justice policy, tax law, and the allocation of public resources. Voters deserve answers before November, and a candidate who won't return press calls is not offering them.
When getting arrested is a résumé-builder and a mayor's endorsement follows the handcuffs, the question isn't whether the Democratic Party has moved left. It's whether anyone in the party still remembers where the guardrails used to be.
