MAGA Hat Social Media Trolls Charged for Chelsea Assault
The two Upper East Side men are roommates; some observers hope they might become cellmates together also.
Chelsea /
| 02 Mar 2026 | 09:54
MAGA Hat social media troll Michael James (left) and Michael Santiago. Larry David inset, Jan. 2021. (
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Social media troll wanted for hate crime arson; later arrested as Michael James. (
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Social media troll wanted for hate crime arson; later arrested as Michael Santiago. (
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In the annals of Chelsea street crime, there are no known incidents more witlessly self-incriminating than the hate crime assault by two social media trolls–MAGA-hat wearing Michael James, 34, and his cameraman Michael Santiago, 31,–alleged to have perpetrated on Thursday Feb. 19, near West 26th Street and Seventh Avenue.
According to an NYPD Crime Stoppers alert issued on Feb. 25: “At approximately 2:50 p.m... a 54-year-old female victim was approached by two unidentified individuals. One of the individuals engaged the victim in conversation and leaned in to kiss her. The victim pushed him away, after which the individual proceeded to make anti-black statements toward her. As the victim attempted to walk away, the two unidentified individuals prevented her from leaving, and one displayed a lighter and set her boots on fire. The 54-year-old female victim then fled the location.”
While the photo of James in a MAGA hat fueled speculation about it being Trump-related “political” act, those familiar with the cesspool of would-be social media “stars” knew the crime was almost certainly apolitical and done for attention by social media trolls.
And so it proved. James and Santiago, who are Upper East roommates and labor together as ScrubsNYC on YouTube and other social media channels, are self-styled “pranksters,” which is perhaps the lowest and most loathed of YouTube sub-genres, and often involves criminal and racial-ethnic provocation.
Gusame Coulibaly, 27, the man who allegedly assaulted cops during the Washington Square snowball fight, is a representative of the type, documenting his malice against other Blacks and Hispanics.He bills himself as “Diaperman” on YouTube and was arrested in connection with the snowball melee last week.
James and Santiago were arrested on Feb. 26 and hit with a slew of menacing, harassments and hate crime charges by D.A. Alvin Bragg. Both men pleaded not guilty and were released. They are due back in court April 21.
At Sunday night March 1, their YouTube channel, which has around 1,500 subscribers, was live steaming “ScrubsNYC RETURNS from JAIL – NYC IN REAL LIFE.” ScrubsNYC also has other social media outlets, including Instagram, X and Discord.
Speaking to the Daily News, the female victim, who is a social worker, said, ”I was very shockedI never heard these words before. No one has ever called me a slave, ever. I’m a very honorable woman. I went to college. At the end of the day, men don’t talk to me like that. These men, telling me to suck their d—-, calling me a slave, calling me a bitch, all of these things,. I’m over a certain age. I’m 54. At my age, I don’t have encounters like that.”