De Blasio: There Will Be Consequences For NYPD Attacks

TOPLINE

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed justice on Thursday for those involved in an ambush in which two NYPD officers were shot and one stabbed late Wednesday night, as protests and looting in the city continued in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

KEY FACTS

key background

De Blasio has recently come under criticism for defending the NYPD’s response to mass protests in New York City, marking what some see as a shift from being a police reformer to a police defender. Images of violence against civilians have called into question the use of excessive force by the NYPD in quelling protests-turned-violent. “I do believe the NYPD has acted appropriately,” said de Blasio after three days of heavy unrest in New York. “We saw a lot of restraint from the NYPD … I believe the NYPD is overwhelmingly acting appropriately.” He blamed the chaos on a small group of out-of-towners he says are responsible for the violence. In response, 236 current and former de Blasio staffers signed an open letter to the mayor asking for “radical change.” 

chief critic

“The chasm between Mayor de Blasio’s promise to reform the criminal legal system and the actions of his Administration has only widened in the past year,” reads the letter from current and former staffers. “And these past long days, as New Yorkers have taken to the streets demanding an end to the racist policing that humiliates, maims, and kills Black New Yorkers, he stood with the very police who perpetrate that violence.”

further reading

“Cuomo Orders Review Of NYPD Driving Through Crowd, As De Blasio Blames Protestors” (Forbes)

“‘Unacceptable And Wrong’: AOC Condemns De Blasio’s Defense Of NYPD Driving Into Protestors” (Forbes) 

“Longtime supporters dismayed at de Blasio’s shift from police reformer to defender” (Politico)