New York public defender Victoria Ruiz, who resigned after being filmed tearing down posters of murdered and kidnapped Israelis, claims she's 'under attack' as friends start GoFundMe

A former New York Public Defender caught tearing down posters of murdered and kidnapped Israelis claims she is 'under attack' and is receiving support from a GoFundMe page. 

Victoria Ruiz resigned from her post after footage of her pulling down the posters at a Pro-Palestine vigil was circulated online. 

Now friends of Ruiz have raised more than $20,000 to 'help out with legal fees' and  'living costs between jobs' the New York Post reported.

'Our incredible friend is under attack' organizer Joey La Neve DeFrancesco, who is one of Ruiz's bandmates in the well-known punk rock band Downtown Boys, wrote on the page. 

By Wednesday morning, the campaign, which was verified to The Post by GoFundMe staff, had raised over $21,500 of its $30,000 goal.

The fundraiser's top donors included several anonymous individuals who contributed between $500 to $1,000, according to the Post. 

Ruiz 'apologized' after being condemned online for her brazen actions.

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

In her resignation statement Ruiz claimed the video, that was seen by more than 10 million people, 'misrepresented' her actions and led to 'false accusations.'

'This viral video misrepresented my actions and has led to false accusations. I regret taking down two posters that had egregious depictions and words justifying killing children,' she wrote. 

'I was deeply offended by the statements on the posters, and went over to take that poster down,' she continued. 

'At that point, the individual from the group approached me and started recording the video, verbally misrepresenting on the video what I was doing and what I was taking issue with.' 

The footage shows Ruiz smirking while tearing down the flyers, before she is interrupted by someone who asked: 'Why are you taking down pictures of missing children? Why are you taking down pictures of babies?'

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

Video of Ruiz quickly went viral, with viewers identifying her as a Trial Attorney from Brooklyn who works at the New York County Defender Services office.

The New York County Defender services released a statement after facing backlash, saying they 'strongly condemn' Ruiz's actions and called her behavior 'highly insensitive.'

'We strongly condemned the highly 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 told 1010 WINS.

'Some of her actions at the event have drawn sharp criticism and we strongly condemn them as highly insensitive.' 

He added that Ruiz had 'apologized to those who were hurt or confused by her actions.'

'After an internal review, and a pledge by all involved to do better, we accept this apology and now refocus on the vigorous pursuit of 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 job defending Manhattan suspects, Ruiz is also a member of 'The Downtown Boys,' an American punk rock formed in 2011 in Providence, Rhode Island.

The group, which the Rolling Stone dubbed as 'America's Most Exciting Punk Band' performed on the news show Democracy Now! in the past.