Eric Garner Jr. criticized Black Lives Matter leaders threatening “riots” and “bloodshed” if Mayor-elect Eric Adams goes ahead with his plan to reestablish the powers of the NYPD.
Speaking to the New York Post, Garner Jr. stated that Hawk Newsome should retract what he said.
“Hawk Newsome threatening to set our city on fire in response to Mayor-elect Eric Adams’ proposal to bring back the plainclothes crime unit is an insult to my family and the movement in general,” Garner said.
“On behalf of the entire movement, I must ask you to retract your statement and redirect that righteous anger to help us all form a more constructive way to achieve our goals because, at the end of the day, we all have. I will not let you or anyone else jeopardize our progress, “he added.
The threats They came after Adams met with leaders from Black Lives Matter of Greater New York last week.. The activists present at the meeting disagreed with his plan to reestablish the unit of plainclothes officers.
“If he thinks they are going to go back to the old ways of policing, then we will hit the streets again. There will be riots, there will be fire and there will be bloodshed because we believe in standing up for our people, ”said Hawk Newsome, co-founder of a group known as Black Lives Matter of Greater New York, after a heated meeting with Adams at Brooklyn City Hall.
“So there is no way I am allowing a Gestapo to come in here and harm our people,” Newsome told reporters. “We pray for peace, but may he prepare for the worst.”
“That’s nonsense, and I think New Yorkers shouldn’t allow rhetoric like this,” Adams said.
“There are very few things that intimidate me, there are very few things that scare me. New Yorkers are not going to live in fear, and no one is going to intimidate us. I am not going to change who I am.”
Adams on Thursday pointed to high rates of violent crime in the city and criticized Black Lives Matter leaders for not speaking out. He said that it is necessary to restore the powers of the police and that it cannot solve the problem alone.
“There is no surprise in what I have said. When I ran for mayor of New York City, I said that I was going to reestablish the anti-gun unit. The voters voted for that,” he said. “I was elected mayor, not the messiah. We have to do this together. “
Adams drew the ire of more progressive Democrats and Black Lives Matter leaders by pledging during his campaign to restore crime units, which dissolved at the height of the 2020 protests amid allegations that the NYPD resorted to abusive tactics on African Americans and Hispanics.
“We will close the city. We will close the City Hall and give it hell and turn it into a nightmare, ”said Chivona Newsome, sister of Hawk Newsome and co-founder of the same group, on Wednesday.
The meeting took place behind closed doors, but an attendee streamed it live on Instagram. Adams and the activists got into a shouting match as they discussed police policies. The incoming mayor erupted when Hawk Newsome told him that his organization would hold him accountable for any future misconduct by NYPD officers.
“Stop the violence in my community. I hold you accountable, ”Adams replied.
Although Hawk’s group and Chivona Newsome use the name Black Lives Matter, the officially recognized group distanced itself from them last year and said in a statement that they have “no relationship” to its operations.
Adams invited the Newsome brothers to a meeting after a protest outside Brooklyn Borough Hall. However, the meeting culminated in screaming and tension. Hawk Newsome said he heard nothing from Adams to suggest that he will seek to fundamentally reform the NYPD.
– .
