BLM Leader Threatens NYC Mayor-Elect Eric Adams With ‘Riots’ and ‘Bloodshed’ if NYPD Reinstates Tougher Policing
New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams has responded to a Black Lives Matter leader who threatened “riots,” “fire,” and “bloodshed” if the NYPD reinstates tougher policing strategies.
Adams clashed with New York BLM co-founder Hawk Newsome over the mayor-elect’s plan to combat crime while at a sit-down at Brooklyn Borough Hall Wednesday:
Adams, a former NYPD captain, had vowed during his campaign to target crime by bringing back anti-crime units composed of roughly 600 officers in plainclothes.
The promise did not go over well with BLM activists, especially as anti-crime units were disbanded in 2020 amid protests against police brutality.
Newsome issued a statement following the meeting, which read, “If they think they are going back to the old ways of policing, then we’re going to take to the streets again. There will be riots. There will be fire, and there will be bloodshed because we believe in defending our people.”
Adams addressed the statement while sitting down with CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Thursday, downplaying Newsome’s threat when asked if he would reconsider reinstating tougher policing.
“Let’s be crystal clear. You had 13 people who did a March from Manhattan to Borough Hall. There are different levels of people who are involved in the Black Lives Matter movement,” he said. “Let’s not make-believe those 13 people have really consumed all of the oxygen in the room. And I made it clear on the campaign trail, I’m going to put in place, not the anti-crime unit, I’m going to put in place a plainclothes gun unit.”
The mayor-elect pointed to gun violence in New York City, explaining his plan to use plainclothes cops to target gangs.
He then expanded on his plan to “change the ecosystem of public safety,” by empowering crisis management teams with the tools needed to prevent gun violence in high crime areas.
“It can’t just be heavy-handed policing,” he added. “It’s giving opportunities.”
Watch above, via CNN.
