Victoria Ruiz is resigning as New York City’s public defender after she was filmed taking down posters of Israeli hostages

A New York City public defender has resigned after he was caught tearing down posters of hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel.

Victoria Ruiz is the latest to face backlash for her participation in the bizarre trend of aggressively tearing up posters of missing children kidnapped by Hamas.

Footage shows Ruiz, grinning, tearing off the flyers, before being interrupted by someone who asks: ‘Why are you removing photos of missing children? Why are you deleting pictures of babies?’

Ruiz declined to respond and instead walks away, still grinning in the video posted by the StopAntisemitism X account.

Ruiz’s video quickly went viral, with viewers identifying her as a Brooklyn trial attorney who works in the New York County Defender Services office.

Ruiz ‘apologised’ after being condemned online for her shameless actions.

“I apologize to anyone who was hurt or confused by my actions at a vigil last week, which were depicted in a video that went viral over the weekend,” she said in a note obtained by 1010WINS.

Ruiz claimed the video, which was seen by more than 10 million viewers, “misrepresented” her actions and led to “false accusations.”

“This viral video misrepresented my actions and led to false accusations. “I regret removing two posters with blatant images and words that justified the killing of children,” she added.

Viewers lambasted Ruiz in the comments on social media.

One wrote: ‘Lawyers take an ethics course in law school, but this guy must have forgotten those lessons.’

“It is time for her management to reconsider her continued employment. Actions like hers may not be consistent with their requirements,” another user noted.

The New York County Defender Services released a statement after facing backlash, saying they “strongly condemn” Ruiz’s actions and calling her behavior “very insensitive.”

“We strongly condemned the extremely insensitive action,” the organization said in a statement.

“It has come to our attention that one of our attorneys, Victoria Ruiz, recently attended a public vigil solely in her capacity as a private citizen,” NYCDS spokesperson Lupe Todd-Medina said. 1010 PROFIT.

“Some of her actions during the event have drawn sharp criticism and we strongly condemn them as deeply insensitive.” He added that Ruiz had “apologized to those who were hurt or confused by her actions.”

“Following an internal review and a commitment from all involved to do better, we accept this apology and now refocus on vigorously pursuing our mission: achieving justice and dignity for every individual we represent.”

Ruiz’s profile has since been removed from the NYCDS website.

In addition to her duties defending Manhattan suspects, Ruiz is also a member of ‘The Downtown Boys’, an American punk rock group formed in 2011 in Providence, Rhode Island.

The group, which Rolling Stone called “America’s Most Exciting Punk Band,” performed on the news show Democracy Now! in the past.

The New Yorker has chronicled the group’s live performance, praising it and noting Ruiz’s dedication to the fight for “justice.”

“Ruiz’s lyrics will pinch your hand: she’s clear and blunt, calling out cops, traffickers and any other obstacles to justice she can uncover,” The New Yorker wrote in a 2016 article.

In 2015, Ruiz and DeFrancesco launched Spark Mag in collaboration with the online magazine ‘Request progress’ a grassroots advocacy group intended to “amplify the voice of the people – and use it to hold government accountable and challenge concentrated corporate power,” according to their website.

This comes as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cleaned up her remarks during her Tuesday briefing after initially dodging a question about pro-Palestinian protesters tearing down posters of hostages of Israelis held in Gaza .

“Tearing down photos of their loved ones – who are being held hostage by Hamas – is wrong and hurtful,” she wrote in a post on

Jean-Pierre was asked Tuesday about clashes between pro-Israel protesters who took hostages of some of the approximately 240 hostages still held in Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.

She was asked about videos of individuals tearing down those posters, and whether it was the White House’s position that these actions “should be condemned.”

“I haven’t – I’ve seen a bit of the coverage here and there,” she replied, indicating some familiarity before quickly dropping the subject. “I think it was from last week, right?” she said.

“There are about 30 million videos” about it on the Internet, NBC’s White House correspondent Peter Alexander interjected.

‘Yes, I hear you. I’m just not going to do it, I’m not going to do it,” she replied.

The reporter shot back, “Is that a peaceful protest to take that down or should you not do that?”

“I’m just not going to go into details on that specific topic,” she said, before moving on to the topic of “violent” protests.

“What I can say is that there are real violent protests and threats happening right now. And senior government officials are aware of these reports, which are deeply concerning.”

The question was a reference to incidents such as the angry construction workers in New York City who confronted a man caught pulling down posters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Shortly after her briefing ended, Jean-Pierre messaged X to clean up her initial response.

“As a result of Hamas terror attacks, communities and families are in mourning. For the past month, the families of those held hostage have lived in terror. Destroying photos of their loved ones – who are being held hostage by Hamas – is wrong and hurtful,” she said in the post.