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Gabriel Sanchez-Nugra, 26, was arrested on Monday morning, April 20, at around 8 a.m. by East Hampton Village Police in front of the East Hampton train station on Railroad Avenue and charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor. Bail was set at $350.

Police responded to a 911 call of menacing in front of the train station after Springs anti-illegal immigration protester Ricky King said that Mr. Sanchez-Nugra had threatened him with a 2-inch silver switchblade. When an officer arrived on the scene, Mr. Sanchez-Nugra was still holding the knife and police confiscated it.

Mr. King has been part of protests against illegal immigration in front of the 7-Eleven in Southampton and the East Hampton train station on several occasions. A few weeks ago, he held up a sign in front of the train station that read, “Mayor Rickenbach’s Slave Labor Market.”

Mr. Sanchez-Nugra is alleging that Mr. King started harassing him, saying “go back to your country,” cursing at him and using racial slurs, Village Police Chief Gerard Larsen said.

Chief Larsen said that police looked into filing charges of harassment against Mr. King, but because the detectives did not see the incident, there was insufficient evidence for such a charge. 
“Because this is such a hot issue throughout the county, we also contacted the Suffolk County Hate Crimes Unit,” Chief Larsen said. “He concurred that there was not enough evidence to charge Mr. King with anything.” Village police also forwarded statements to the District Attorney’s office for review but have not received a response yet.

“The bottom line is words are words and a knife is something totally different,” Chief Larsen said.

Mr. Sanchez-Nugra did not have identification on him when he was arrested but his fingerprints did not match any warrants issued by other police departments.

On the subject of Mr. Sanchez-Nugra’s immigration status, “We don’t usually contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless it’s a felony,” Chief Larsen said.